Examples of dairy definitions

Raw milk is defined as “milk produced by the secretion of the mammary gland of farmed animals that has not been heated to more than 40ºC or undergone any treatment that has an equivalent effect”.

Dairy products are defined as “processed products resulting from the processing of raw milk or from the further processing of such processed products”

Milk refers exclusively to “the normal mammary secretion obtained from one or more milkings without either addition hereto or extraction therefrom”.

Specifically, it defines that the term milk may be used:

“a) for milk treated without altering its composition or for milk the fat content of which is standardised …

b) in association with a word or words to designate the type, trade, origin and/or intended use of such milk or to describe the physical treatment or the modification in composition to which it has been subjected, provided that the modification is restricted to an addition and/or withdrawal of natural milk constituents”.

Milk products are defined as “products derived exclusively from milk, on the understanding that substances necessary for their manufacture may be added provided that those substances are not used for the purpose of replacing, in whole or in part, any milk constituent”.

Furthermore, drinking milk is defined as:

“a) Raw milk: milk which has not been heated above 40^oC or subjected to treatment having equivalent effect;

b) Whole milk: heat-treated milk which, with respect to fat content meets one of the following requirements:

(i) standardised whole milk: milk with a fat content of at least 3,50 % (m/m). However, Member States may provide for an additional category of whole milk with a fat content of 4,00 % (m/m) or above;

(ii) non-standardised whole milk: milk with a fat content that has not been altered since the milking state either by the addition or removal of milk fats or by mixture with milk of the natural fat content of which has been altered. However, the fat content may not be less than 3,50 % (m/m);

c) Semi-skimmed milk: heat-treated milk whose fat content has been reduced to at least 1,50 % (m/m) and at the most 1,80 % (m/m);

d) Skimmed milk: heat-treated milk whose fat content has been reduced to not more than 0,50 % (m/m).

Heat-treated milk not complying with the fat content requirements laid down in points (b), (c) and (d) [described above] (…) shall be considered to be drinking milk provided that the fat content is clearly indicated with one decimal and easily readable on the packaging in form of "… % fat". Such milk shall not be described as whole milk, semi-skimmed milk or skimmed milk.” 

Milk is defined as “normal mammary secretion of milking animals obtained from one or more milkings without either addition to it or extraction from it, intended for consumption as liquid milk or for further processing”.

Milk products are defined as products “obtained by any processing of milk, which may contain food additives, and other ingredients functionally necessary for the processing”.

Composite milk product is defined as “a product of which the milk, milk products or milk constituents are an essential part in terms of quantity in the final product, as consumed provided that the constituents not derived from milk are not intended to take the place in part or in whole of any milk constituent”.

A reconstituted milk product is defined as “a product resulting from the addition of water to the dried or concentrated form of the product in the amount necessary to re-establish the appropriate water to solids ratio”.

A recombined milk product is defined as “a product resulting from the combining of milkfat and milk-solids-non-fat in their preserved forms with or without the addition of water to achieve the appropriate milk product composition”. 

Liquid milk is defined as a category that includes the following:

• Cow milk, whole, fresh “production data refer to raw milk containing all its constituents. Trade data normally cover milk from any animal (e.g., buffalo, goat, sheep, camel) and refer to milk that is not concentrated, pasteurized, sterilized or other-wise preserved, homogenized or peptonized”.  
• Milk skim of cows is defined as “milk from which most of the fat has been removed. Can be applied to milk from other animals too, such as buffalo, sheep and goat”. Skimmed milk (also known as “fat free” or “non-fat” milk) refers to milk that “contains reduced amounts of fat-soluble vitamins, particularly vitamin A, compared with whole milk”.  
• Standardized milk is defined as “milk in which the fat content is adjusted to a predetermined value without altering any other constituents”. Furthermore, “standardizing is usually carried out either by incomplete skimming of whole milk to remove part of the fat, or by mixing the whole milk with skimmed milk”.
• Reconstituted milk: is “obtained by adding water, fat, etc. to milk powder”.  
• Fortified milks: are defined as milk that “can be enriched with various compounds to increase the intake of particular micronutrients, for example vitamins A, D and C and iron”.

Condensed milk is described as a product that “may be sweetened or unsweetened, and made from whole or skimmed milk.” Condensed whole milk is defined as “milk and cream from which water has been partly removed after heat-treating and concentrating. Normally sucrose is added to give the product stability and bacteriological safety”.

Dehydrated milk products include:  

• evaporated milks, defined as “milk and cream from which the water has been partly removed and which has been heat-treated to render it bacteriologically safe and stable”;  
• dry milk/milk powder, defined as “milk and cream from which water has been completely removed by various methods. In form of powder, granules or other solid forms. May contain added sugar or other sweeteners”. 

Evaporated milk is defined as “milk products which can be obtained by the partial removal of water from milk by heat or by any other process which leads to a product of the same composition and characteristics”.

Nutrient composition standards are defined as:

• Evaporated milk – minimum milkfat of 7.5% m/m, and minimum milk solids of 25% m/m.
• Evaporated skimmed milk – maximum milkfat of 1% m/m, and minimum milk solids of 20% m/m.
• Evaporated partially skimmed milk – milkfat of >1% m/m and less than 7.5% m/m, and minimum milk solids of 20% m/m.
• Evaporated high-fat milk – minimum milkfat of 15% m/m, and minimum milk solids of 11.5% m/m.
• Milk protein of 34% m/m for all fat content variations. 

Milk powders and cream powder are “milk products which can be obtained by the partial removal of water from milk or cream”.

Nutrient composition standards are defined as:

• Cream powder – minimum milkfat of 42% m/m, maximum water of 5% m/m.
• Whole milk powder – milkfat of >26% m/m and less than 42% m/m, maximum water of 5% m/m.
• Partially skimmed milk powder – milkfat of >1.5% m/m and less than 26% m/m, maximum water of 5% m/m.
• Skimmed milk powder – maximum milkfat of 1% m/m, maximum water of 5% m/m.
• Minimum milk protein for all of 34% m/m.

Fermented milk is defined as a “milk product obtained by fermentation of milk, which milk may have been manufactured from products obtained from milk with or without compositional modification … by the action of suitable microorganisms and resulting in reduction of pH with or without coagulation (isoelectric precipitation). These starter microorganisms shall be viable, active and abundant in the product to the date of minimum durability. If the product is heat treated after fermentation the requirement for viable microorganisms does not apply”.

Further requirements are that fermented milk should include a minimum of milk protein content of 2.7 % m/m, and a milk fat content of less than 10 % m/m.

Specific starter culture(s) used for fermentation characterise certain fermented milks:

• Yoghurt includes “Symbiotic cultures of Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus”. Further requirements are that yoghurt should include a minimum milk protein content of 2.7 % m/m and a milk fat content of less than 15 % m/m.
• Alternate culture yoghurt includes “Cultures of Streptococcus thermophilus and any Lactobacillus species”.
• Acidophilus milk is defined by “Lactobacillus acidophilus” culture.
• Kefir includes “starter culture prepared from kefir grains, Lactobacillus kefiri, species of the genera Leuconostoc, Lactococcus and Acetobacter growing in a strong specific relationship.” Besides the bacteria species, Kefir also includes yeasts. “Kefir grains constitute both lactose fermenting yeasts (Kluyveromyces marxianus) and non-lactose-fermenting yeasts (Saccharomyces unisporus, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Saccharomyces exiguus).”
• Kumys is defined by cultures of “Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and Kluyveromyces marxianus”.

Concentrated fermented milk is defined as “Fermented Milk the protein of which has been increased prior to or after fermentation to minimum 5.6 %. Concentrated Fermented Milks includes traditional products such as Stragis to (strained yoghurt), Labneh, Ymer and Ylette”.

Flavoured fermented milks are defined as “composite milk products, as defined in FAO/WHO 1999a (pdf) which contain a maximum of 50 % (m/m) of non-dairy ingredients (such as nutritive and non nutritive sweeteners, fruits and vegetables as well as juices, purees, pulps, preparations and preserves derived there from, cereals, honey, chocolate, nuts, coffee, spices and other harmless natural flavouring foods) and/or flavours. The non-dairy ingredients can be mixed in prior to/or after fermentation.”

Drinks based on Fermented Milk are defined as “composite milk products, as defined in FAO/WHO 1999a (pdf), obtained by mixing Fermented Milk as described supra with potable water with or without the addition of other ingredients such as whey, other non-dairy ingredients, and flavourings. Drinks Based on Fermented Milk contain a minimum of 40 % (m/m) fermented milk”.

Other than those of the starter culture(s) microorganisms can be added to these products. 

Fermented milks (defined previously (FAO/WHO 2003 (pdf)) include:

• Buttermilk, curdled, acidified milk, is a “residue from butter making”.  
• Kephir/kefir is defined as “a viscous, highly acidic beverage produced from cow, goat or mare milks … (which) fermentation process is initiated by “kephir grains” (clusters of yeast and bacteria), which are added to milk”. It is made “from raw, pasteurized or UHT-treated milk”.  
• Kumys/kumiss/koumiss is a fermented product “generally made from equine or goat milk”, primarily consumed in Russia and western Asia.  
• Other traditional fermented milks (not common in Europe) include Tarag, and Kurut.

Yoghurt is defined as “a fermented milk food”.

Yoghurt, concentrated or unconcentrated includes “additives such as sugar, flavouring materials, fruit or cocoa”.

It further describes that yoghurt is “produced by lowering the pH of milk proteins to their isoelectric points (about pH 4.6) by the fermentation of lactose to lactic acid using starter bacteria”. Additionally, yoghurts can “be differentiated according to the fat content of the milk used to produce the yoghurt (non-fat, low-fat or whole milk), the milk source (e.g. cow, buffalo, goat or sheep milks; for example, traditional Greek yoghurt is produced with full fat sheep milk) and processing (e.g. UHT-treated yoghurt, fruit-flavoured yoghurt, yoghurt drinks, smoothies and whipped or aerated yoghurt).” 

Cheese can be “ripened or unripened soft, hard, or extra-hard … obtained by:

 (a) Coagulating wholly or partly the protein of the milk, skimmed milk, partly skimmed milk, cream, whey, cream or buttermilk, or any combination of these materials, through the action of rennet or other suitable coagulating agents (…)

 (b) Processing techniques involving coagulation of the protein of milk and/or products obtained from milk which give an end-product with similar physical, chemical and organoleptic characteristics as the product defined under (a).”

Ripened cheese is defined as “cheese which is not ready for consumption shortly after manufacture but which must be held for such time, at such temperature, and under such other conditions as will result in the necessary biochemical and physical changes characterizing the cheese in question.”

• Mould ripened cheese is described as a “ripened cheese in which the ripening has been accomplished primarily by the development of characteristic mould growth throughout the interior and/or on the surface of the cheese.”

Unripened cheese including fresh cheese is “cheese which is ready for consumption shortly after manufacture.” 

Cheeses in brine are defined as “semi-hard to soft ripened cheeses”. Further specifications are that 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.” Finally, certain “individual cheeses in brine contain specific herbs and spices as part of their identity”.

The definition of soft vs semi-hard varies according to the percentage of dry matter (minimum 40% in soft, and 52% in semi-hard).

Cheese from whole cow milk is described as “curd of milk that has been coagulated and separated from whey. May include some skimmed milk”.

Cheese from skimmed cow milk is described as one that “may include some whole milk”. 

Dairy fat spreads are defined as “milk products relatively rich in fat in the form of a spreadable emulsion principally of the type of water-in-milk fat that remains in solid phase at a temperature of 20° C.”

Nutrient composition standards are defined as:

• Minimum milkfat content of 10% m/m and less than 80% m/m
• Shall represent at least 2/3 of the dry matter

Butter is defined as “a fatty product derived exclusively from milk and/or products obtained from milk, principally in the form of an emulsion of the type water-in-oil.”

Nutrient composition standards are defined as:

• Minimum milkfat content of 80% m/m
• Maximum water content of 16% m/m
• Maximum milk solids-not-fat content 2% m/m 

Cream is defined as “the fluid milk product comparatively rich in fat, in the form of an emulsion of fat-in-skimmed milk, obtained by physical separation from milk.”  

Reconstituted cream is defined as “cream obtained by reconstituting milk products with or without the addition of potable water and with the same end product characteristics as” cream.

Recombined cream is described as “cream obtained by recombining milk products with or without the addition of potable water and with the same end product characteristics as” cream.

Finally, pre-packaged liquid cream is defined as “the fluid milk product obtained by preparing and packaging cream, reconstituted cream and/or recombined cream for direct consumption and/or for direct use as such”. Examples include whipping cream, whipped cream, fermented cream, etc.