Draft Revised Standard for Butter
Draft Revised Standard for Milkfat Products
Draft Revised Standard for Evaporated Milks
Draft Revised Standard for Sweetened Condensed Milks
Draft Revised Standard for Milk and Cream Powders
Draft Revised Standard for Cheese
Draft Revised Standard for Whey Cheese
Draft Group Standard for Cheeses in Brine
21. The Committee decided to base its consideration on the document CX/MMP 96/3-Add. 3.
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS
22. The Committee agreed to take some horizontal approaches throughout the consideration of all standards as follows:
1. Scope23. The Committee noted the proposal of the Delegation of USA to modify the hygiene provision of all standards to include the following wording:To replace the term "the product" with the name of the product.
2. Description and 3. Essential Composition and Quality Factors
To use "milk and products obtained from milk" in Description and Raw materials unless specifically stated otherwise in the standard, as the term "milk" implies liquid milk.
3.2 Permitted Ingredients
To add "potable water" where appropriate and extend the statement about starter cultures as follows: "Starter cultures of harmless lactic acid and/or flavour producing bacteria".
6. Hygiene
To use the Codex standard text provided for in the Procedural Manual[8].
7. Labelling
To include a reference to the Code of Principles Concerning Milk and Milk Products, to follow as much as possible the Codex General Standard for the Labelling of Prepackaged Foods and to amend the labelling provision for the origin of milk as follows:
"A word or words denoting the animal or, in the case of a mixture, all the animals from which the milk has been derived, should be inserted immediately before or after the designation of the product. Such declarations are not required if the consumer would not be misled by their omission".
To delete the term "and, in the absence of such a container, on the product itself" from the section on the labelling of non-retail containers where appropriate.
"Pasteurization, or an equivalent measure approved by the official agency having jurisdiction, shall be used in order to achieve the appropriate level of public health protection".The Committee agreed to refer the US proposal on modification for consideration by the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene while maintaining the Codex standard text in the provision. Several delegations expressed their view that mandatory pasteurization should not be included in the hygiene provision. The Committee also noted the statement of Iran that raw milk should not be allowed for the production of milk products.
24. The Observer from the EC expressed reservations on the food additives provisions of all standards considered regarding substances in the lists and their maximum levels.
Description
25. The Committee decided to remove the reference to whey butter and to make the amendments accordingly.
Essential Composition and Quality Factors
26. The Committee agreed to delete maximum water content in Section 3.3 as it was unnecessary when the minimum content of fat was stated. The Observer from the EC expressed doubts on the maximum water content.
Hygiene
27. The Committee noted the proposal of Uruguay to include under Section 6.3 numerical values for the microbiological criteria (total coliforms at 30°C, n=5, C=2, m=10 cfu/g, M=100 cfu/g; coliforms at 45°C, n=5, c=2, m>3 cfu/g, M=10 cfu/g; Salmonella spp, n=5, c=0, m=Absence in 25g) and decided to refer this statement for consideration by the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene. The Delegation was encouraged to raise this issue at the CCFH which is responsible for hygienic matters.
28. The Observer from the EC proposed different numerical values for the microbiological criteria: total coliforms at 30°C, n=5, C=2, m=0 cfu/g, M=10 cfu/g.
Labelling
29. The Committee agreed to include Section 7.3 Declaration of Milkfat Content with the following wording: "Butter shall be labelled to indicate the fat content in a manner found acceptable in the country of sale if the consumer would be misled by its omission."
Methods of Sampling and Analysis
30. The Committee decided to include the methods for detection of vegetable fat.
31. The Committee agreed to include "milkfat" in the Standard and to make the amendments accordingly.
Description
32. It was decided to add a separate description for ghee to read "Ghee is a product exclusively obtained from milk, cream or butter by means of processes which result in almost total removal of water and non-fat solids, with an especially developed flavour and physical structure".
Essential Composition and Quality Factors
33. The Committee decided to insert "milkfat" in Section 3.3 and to remove the provision for maximum water in all products except for anhydrous milkfat/anhydrous butteroil.
Food Additives
34. The Committee saw no justification in not using carbon dioxide as inert gas in Section 4.1 and agreed to delete the statement excluding it.
35. The Committee noted that dilauryl thiodipropionate and isopropyl citrate mixture were not allowed in many countries including the EC and agreed to delete them.
Methods of Analysis and Sampling
36. The Delegation of India requested to include a method for detecting animal fat other than milkfat and offered to provide the method for consideration by the IDF/ISO/AOAC Working Group.
Title
37. The Committee recognized that other means than the traditional heating process could be used to remove water from milk provided that the end product would have a composition and characteristics similar to the product obtained by traditional heat evaporation. Although a proposal was made to change the name of the product to reflect the use of new technologies, the Committee decided to retain the name "evaporated milks".
Essential Composition and Quality Factors
38. The Committee agreed to transfer the definitions of "milk retentate" and "milk permeate" from the appendix into the body of the standard as proposed by the Delegation of France.
39. The Committee noted the reservations expressed by the Delegation of the United Kingdom on the inclusion of protein standardization in the standards for preserved milks (see para. 13). The Observer from the EC expressed reservations on the use of milk and cream powders.
Labelling
40. The Committee agreed to include Section 7.3 List of Ingredients.
41. The Committee agreed to replace the word "sucrose" with the word "sugar" as appropriate in the standard.
Essential Composition and Quality Factors
42. The Committee agreed not to include sweetening agents and nutritive carbohydrate sweeteners in the list of permitted ingredients and to include the statement regarding sugar in Sections 3.2 and 3.3.
Food Additives
43. The Committee did not accept the proposal to include emulsifiers and agreed to retain the food additives in the present Standard and to include aspartame in the list.
Labelling
44. The Committee agreed to include Section 7.3 List of Ingredients.
Appendix
45. The Committee agreed to delete the Appendix which contained Composition and Other Methods of Analysis.
Description
46. The Committee agreed to include cream as a source of the products.
Essential Composition and Quality Factors
47. The Committee agreed to combine the composition lists of cream powder and high-fat milk powder. The Delegations of Sweden and Switzerland proposed to raise the minimum protein content when protein standardization was applied. The Committee recalled that this minimum level had been agreed at the previous Session. The Delegation of Sweden also proposed to lower the maximum water content in powders with high fat content. The Observer from the EC expressed some doubts on the minimum levels of water and protein.
Food Additives
48. The Committee confirmed the inclusion of anticaking agents which were in the existing standard. The Delegation of Poland expressed its reservation over the use of anticaking agents.
Labelling
49. The Committee agreed to include Sections 7.3 List of Ingredients.
50. The Committee had a prolonged discussion on whether or not to retain the provision regarding natural flavouring substances in the Standard without reaching consensus and decided to seek the advice of an informal working group. The Committee agreed to make the following amendments as proposed by the group:
- To insert the following wording after the first sentence in the Scope:Description"However the labelling section of this standard provides additionally for the designation of cheese with flavouring foods, spices, herbs, natural flavours, nature identical flavours and artificial flavours."- To delete the text on the use of natural flavourings in Section 3.2 Permitted Ingredients; and- To insert after the first paragraph of Section 7.1 Name of the food the following wording:
"A product, subject of this Standard with the addition of flavouring foods, spices, herbs, natural flavours, nature identical flavours and artificial flavours (ref: Codex Alimentarius, 2nd Ed., Vol. 1A) may be named "cheese" with a clear description of the added characteristic ingredients (or group of ingredients) provided that such ingredients are not intended to take the place of any milk constituent and the cheese remains the essential part of the product. Such a description is not required if the consumer would not be misled by its omission."
51. The Committee agreed to replace the words "cured" and "uncured" with the words "ripened" and "unripened" respectively.
Essential Composition and Quality Factors
52. The Committee decided: to delete the first paragraph of the Section; not to include "and cultures of harmless fungi" in Section 3.2 as fungi were microorganisms; and to replace coagulating agent with coagulating enzymes in Section 3.2.
53. The Committee agreed not to include the proposal of France on Section 3.3 on cheese coatings and deferred further discussion until Agenda Item 10 (see para. 82).
Food Additives
54. The Committee agreed to include a list of food additives contained in CX/MMP 96/3-Add.5 (CRD 8) and to add lysozyme in the list of preservatives.
Labelling
55. The Committee decided to make minor amendments to the first paragraph of Section 7.1 Name of the food. It further decided to replace the table of designation with a new simplified one. It noted that as a consequence the definitions of characterizing terms for cheese in relation to fat content were transferred to Section 7.3 Declaration of fat content. The explanation of MFFB was retained.
56. The Committee concurred in using the common wording in Section 7.2 Country of origin.
57. The Committee agreed to amend Section 7.3 Declaration of milkfat content as follows:
"For characterizing the product, the fat content shall be indicated, expressed either as a percentage by mass or as a percentage in dry matter* or as specified in national legislation. Contents of fat in dry matter may adequately be indicated in the labelling of the cheese, e.g. by steps of 5% fat in dry matter.The wording above would be also used in the draft standards for whey cheese and for cheeses in brine.*) Fat in dry matter may be indicated as prefix % FDM, suffix % FDM or suffix +"
58. The committee agreed to include a new Section 7.5 Date marking.
59. The Delegation of Italy expressed reservations on the standard for whey cheese stating that "whey cheese" should be regarded as condensed whey but not a type of "cheese".
Description
60. The Committee decided not to include "precipitation of whey proteins" as cheese made from precipitated whey protein should be classified as whey protein cheese, the definition of which was included in Annex of the Revised Code of Principles[16]; and it recalled that it had been decided at the last Session not to elaborate a standard for whey protein cheese.
Essential Composition and Quality Factors
61. The Committee decided to delete the first paragraph in this Section.
Labelling
62. The Committee decided to move the paragraph following the table of fat on the dry basis to replace the first sentence of Section 7.1 Name of the food.
63. While France, Spain and Switzerland preferred to keep the second sentence of Section 7.3 Country of origin, the Committee decided to delete the sentence as it was pointed out that this matter was well covered by Section 4.5 of the Codex General Standard for the Labelling of Prepackaged Foods.
Scope
64. The Committee agreed to include the term "Group" before the word "Standard" and to delete the last sentence.
Description
65. The Committee agreed on a new description as follows:
"Cheeses in Brine are semi-hard to soft ripened/unripened cheeses in conformity with the Codex Standard for Cheese (CODEX STAN A-6). The body has a white to yellowish colour and a compact texture suitable for slicing, with none to few mechanical openings. The cheeses have no actual rind and have been ripened and preserved in brine until delivered to, or prepacked for, the consumer."Essential Composition and Quality Factors
66. The Committee decided to move cultures, coagulating enzymes and sodium chloride from Section 3.1 Raw material to Section 3.2 Permitted ingredients. It also decided to include calcium chloride in Section 3.2; to amend the table in Section 3.3 Composition; and to delete Section 3.4. The Committee noted that Section 3.5 was not to cover hygiene issues and decided to delete the Section in order to make the Standard less restrictive.
67. The Delegation of India preferred that the original wording in Section 3.1 be used in all standards.
Food Additives
68. The Committee agreed to delete all colorants as they could rather be used as "decolorants" to make yellowish cheese white.
Labelling
69. The committee agreed not to include a new sentence regarding water content in Section 7.3 as water was needed only for technological reasons and therefore no reference was needed.
DRAFT GROUP STANDARD FOR UNRIPENED CHEESE
70. The Committee decided to include in the title the term "including fresh cheese" but not to include the term "excluding Mozzarella" in the Scope.
71. The Committee felt that the inclusion of fresh cheese would require extensive redrafting of the standard and decided to return the standard to Step 6 for redrafting and government comments. The Committee requested IDF to undertake the drafting.
Status of Draft and Draft Revised Standards
72. The following standards were advanced to Step 8 for adoption by the Commission:
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Draft Revised Standards for: |
Butter; |
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Milkfat Products; |
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Evaporated Milks; |
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Sweetened Condensed Milks; |
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Milk and Cream Powders; |
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Cheese; and |
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Whey Cheese; and |
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Draft Group Standard for Cheeses in Brine. |
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