The European Union has approved two sets of guidelines intended on setting safety and quality standards for cheese in the processing industry.
The European Dairy Association’s (EDA) guidelines for cheese as a raw material and the processed cheese organisation Assifonte’s Good Manufacturing Guidelines Practice for Processed Cheese were both approved by the EU earlier this month.
“Both guidelines, which will be translated into all 23 official EU languages, underline the global leadership of the EU cheese and processed cheese industry when it comes to safety and quality,” said Alexander Anton, the Secretary General of the EDA and Assifonte.
Assifonte Chairman Ludwig Rupp said: “EU Commission’s Standing Committee on the Food Chain unanimously approved the EDA Guidance for ‘Cheese as raw material’ and Assifonte ‘Good Manufacturing Practice Guidelines for Processed Cheese’ in its last meeting.
“In other words, the European Commission and Member States have endorsed this major step for food safety, consumer protection and product quality across the Union.
“This is the fruit of over ten years of concentrated work from committed cheese experts from EDA and Assifonte.
“I want to highlight specifically the work of Claus Heggum from the Danish Dairy Board, who really drove this project from the very beginning.
“This is also the result of the EDA and Assifonte secretariat’s high level commitment over the past 18 months on these project.”
The two guidelines will be published in the near future on EU Commission’s official food hygiene guidance platform.