81) The Committee recalled that the Proposed Draft Amendment had been returned to Step 6 for further comments due to lack of consensus on the definition of a class name for “milk protein products” and “milk protein”.
82) The Delegation of New Zealand recalled that in view of technological evolution, there were a wide variety of milk protein products on the market and the technical description of such products would not be adequate for the purposes of labelling and consumer information. The Committee on Milk and Milk Products had therefore proposed to establish a class name which would cover “milk protein products” with a minimum level of 35% milk protein and “milk protein” with 50%.
83) Some delegations supported the proposal put forward by the CCMMP. Other delegations proposed to retain only the class name for milk protein products (35%). The Delegation of India, supported by the Delegation of Indonesia, proposed a single class of milk protein products with a minimum level of 30% milk protein. Other delegations proposed that the minimum content of protein for “milk protein products” should be higher than 35%, for example 50%.
84) The Delegation of Sweden, speaking on behalf of the EC, as well as the Delegation of Switzerland, proposed the use of a single class name “milk protein” and considered that this name should be used only for ingredients with a high milk protein content, for example 50%. They expressed the view that the use of the class name “milk protein products” would be misleading for consumers.
85) The Chairperson noted that there was no consensus on the definition of a class name although this question had been discussed extensively in previous sessions, and noted that the Committee might wish to reconsider the need to proceed with this work at its next session.
Status of the Draft Amendment to the General Standard for the Labelling of Prepackaged Foods: Class Names
86) The Committee agreed to return the Draft Amendment to Step 6 for further comments and consideration at the next session (see Appendix VI)
