Cheese Makers Want to Use Filtered Milks

February 15, 2000

The National Cheese Institute (NCI) has asked the Food and Drug Administration to formally amend the federal cheese standards of identity to include the use of filtered milks in cheese making.

NCU points of that filtered milks have been used in cheese making for more than 20 years under the alternate make procedures provided in the standards of identity for cheese.   NCI argues that the use of the technology now should be formally accepted as providing a specific and approved dairy ingredient. 

NCI says the petition became necessary when USDA questioned the use of ultrafiltered milk in cheese making last year despite its fairly common use as part of an "alternative make procedure" under the current cheese standards of identity.

FDA agreed that the practice was acceptable for many major cheese varieties and said it would not enforce any punitive action against cheese makers until the petition had been considered.

Because ultrafiltration removes the same constituents that otherwise are removed form milk in the separation of whey from curd, the finished cheese has the same physical, chemical and nutritional characteristics as cheese made from other forms of milk.

Filtration technology in general ranges from simply removing some of the water from milk (reverse osmosis) and removing some whey nutrients (ultrafiltration), to removing water and nutrients except for most protein (microfiltration).