NFU Opposes Milk Definition Change

October 3, 2001

The National Farmers Union (NFU) has told the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) it is opposed to petitions that seek to change the official definition of milk used in manufacturing dairy products. One petition, filed by the American Dairy Products Institute, proposes changing the standard to allow the use of liquid ultrafiltered (UF) milk in cheesemaking. The other petition filed by the National Cheese Institute (NCI), the Grocery Manufacturers of America, Inc., and the National Food Processors Association seeks to change the standard to allow the use of both liquid and dry ultrafiltered milk in cheesemaking.

"FDA should continually preserve the existing standard of identity for milk used for cheese production," said NFU President Leland Swenson. "Changing the product standard would be misleading to the consumer and would seriously compromise decades of work by the nation's dairy farmers."

Wisconsin dairy farmer Bill Brey, who also serves as Farmers Union president in his state, explained that the ultrafiltration of milk removes minerals such as calcium and reduces the lactose that gives cheese its fullness of flavor.

"Milk ultrafiltration dilutes one of our most basic foods," Brey said. "Furthermore, the potential negative impact of changing the definition of milk on dairy producers is very real, and I consider this to be one of the most threatening issues facing dairy producers in recent times."

The liquid ultrafiltration process has been allowed only as a pilot program in the United States. Other countries are dumping surplus dairy production into the United States in the form of dry UF milk, also known as milk protein concentrate (MPC). Dry MPC is not produced in the United States and neither MPC nor liquid UF milk is subject to import quotas that regulate dairy product access to the U.S. market.

Due to opposition to its original petition to FDA that included dry UF milk, NCI amended its position to only support the use of liquid filtered milk. However, Brey and many other dairy producers maintain that the basic difference between dry and fluid UF milk is water.