Cheesemakers in the United States producing specific varieties of cheese, including cheddar, mozzarella, Parmesan and pasteurized process cheese, must adhere to FDA’s food standards of identity. There are 75 different federal cheese standards that dictate the types of dairy and other ingredients permitted, along with specific compositional requirements such as minimum milkfat and moisture content of each type of cheese.
The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) has been working for over two decades to enact changes to the standards to reflect ingredient innovation and novel processing techniques such as milk filtration. But due to FDA’s complex requirements, lack of knowledge about cheesemaking and lack of resources for non-food-safety work, the standards have languished for decades, and American dairy has paid a hefty price in opportunities lost.