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Technical issues on manufacture of organic dairy products in America

Dr. Mali Reddy

Dr. Mali Reddy serves as president of the American Dairy and Food Consulting Laboratories and International Media and Cultures (IMAC Inc.), Denver, Colorado. He holds several degrees including M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Iowa State University in food technology and microbiology. He is a guest columnist for this week’s issue of Cheese Market News®.

Demand for organic products in both the United States and Europe continues to grow. Because of rapid communications and globalization, countries such as China and India also are following suit. Although there is no concrete scientific evidence to show that organic dairy products are superior to conventional products, many consumers believe that organically-produced food products are far superior. Consequently the industry has to concentrate on the demands of the customer.

In the United States, only dairy products that have been certified as meeting USDA organic standards can be labeled “organic.” There are four types of organic claims: 100 percent organic (all the ingredients must be certified organic with no exception); organic (product must contain at least 95 percent organic ingredients); made with organic ingredients (product must contain at least 70 percent organic ingredients); and product made using less than 70 percent organic ingredients (the organic ingredients may be declared and identified in the ingredient panel).Products labeled natural are not considered organic. Unlike organic labeling, which must meet USDA criteria, the term “natural”is not federally regulated.

I have been asked several times by various dairy and food industry personnel regarding the rules and regulations pertaining to organic cheeses and other dairy products in the United States. In order to produce organic cheese you must use organic milk from a producer who has been certified by a USDA-accredited certifying agent. The dairy farmer who produces organic milk must only use organic feed and the cows should have access to outdoors and pasture. Antibiotics, growth hormones, genetic engineering and cloning are absolutely prohibited. In addition, the cows must be fed and managed organically for at least one year prior to the production of organic milk.

Several organic cheese producers report that due to difficulty in collecting large volumes of raw organic milk from farms, oftentimes they have to pool and hold raw milk in silos for long periods, sometimes going as long as 5 days. The question here is, if you hold organic raw milk for such a long time, how does it affect the safety and quality? Going one step further, what happens to the quality of the dairy product made using such milk? It has been scientifically proven that raw milk held over a weekend tends to result in lower cheese yield and quality unless it is protected using milk silo cultures.

Considering the above, the following questions have been raised by the organic dairy product manufacturers: How long could one hold organic raw milk safely in silos? Does organic milk spoil much faster than regular milk? Can we use milk silo cultures in organic raw milk to protect it from spoilage? Should the milk silo cultures be organic? How about the rennet we use, should it be organic? How about the starter media and starter cultures, should they be organic? Can we use approved natural preservatives and mold inhibitors in organic cheese, and should they be organic? and How about the optional ingredients allowed in the standard of identity cheese, should they be organic?

All of these questions can be answered depending on what kind of organic claim you want to make. After receiving organic milk at a cheese or dairy plant, it is advisable to protect its quality by using a milk silo culture to turn on the raw milk natural lacto peroxidase system. This will minimize the risk of excess growth of psychrotrophs and pathogens if they are present in the raw milk. The next obvious question is, does the milk silo culture need to be organically certified? I believe the answer is no. Dairy cultures are allowed by USDA to be used in “organic foods,” even though they are non-organic (by definition). They are categorized under nonsynthetic substances allowed as ingredients in products labeled as organic “or “made with organic.” In my opinion, the dairy industry must stick with the “organic” claim rather than “100 percent organic.” This also applies to fluid organic milk, whether it is sold as pasteurized or raw. Organic milk for fluid consumption can be better preserved using milk silo cultures that are approved as non-organic ingredients allowed to be used in the organic foods. The next question is, are there any set standards and exceptions? Yes there are. They are listed in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) under title 7, part 205 of the National Organic Program. It is clearly stated under section § 205.605 that several non-agricultural (non-organic) substances are allowed as ingredients in or on processed products labeled as “organic” or “made with organic ingredients.”

The next major issue that is much discussed is organic cheese production. In my opinion, it is not possible to manufacture “100 percent organic” cheese. The only thing that is possible is to make “organic cheese,” where the dairy product must contain at least 95 percent organic ingredients. The organic raw milk as an ingredient should constitute 95 percent and any non-organic ingredients such as rennet (produced from a non-genetically modified source), calcium chloride, dairy cultures, primary starter, secondary starter, etc. must not exceed 5 percent (in comparison to volume of the milk).

Another question asked is, what about the anticaking agents used in the organic cheese? The anticaking agents must be specially designed for this purpose. According to the CFR pertaining to organic certification, cellulose is accepted to be used as an ingredient in anticaking agents. However such cellulose must be non-chlorine bleached. Starches and cornstarch (native) also are allowed to be used as anticaking agents.

Enzymes of non-genetically modified microbial origin and calcium sulfate may be used as well. The amount of anticaking agent applied must be carefully controlled, considering the quantity allowed according to the organic labeling requirements.

I hope I have clarified several questions regarding organic dairy products. Since it is a growing area, dairy product manufacturers must take extra precautions to curtail the microbiological and quality problems. This area is wide open to the dairy industry. All in all, it is not as hard as people think to manufacture organic dairy products provided you follow USDA set rules and regulations.

CMN

The views expressed by CMN’s guest columnists are their own opinions and do not necessarily reflect those of Cheese Market News®.

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