Recently, the National Health Commission and the State Administration for Market Regulation have jointly issued GB 19302-2025 National Food Safety Standard Fermented Milk, which will come into effect on September 16. What adjustments have been made to the index requirements in the new national standard? What are the highlights? Let's take a look.
The new national standard added concentrated milk as a raw material, with no change in nutrition and more convenient storage and transportation.
The new national standard is applicable to fermented milk and flavored fermented milk. Fermented milk is commonly known as yogurt.
The new national standard specifies that:
Fermented milk is a product with a reduced pH value, which is made from one or more of raw bovine (goat) milk, concentrated milk for food industry use, and milk powder as raw materials, through processes of sterilization and fermentation.
Flavored fermented milk is a product which is made with no less than 80% of one or more of raw bovine (goat) milk, concentrated milk for food industry use and milk powder as the main raw materials, added with other raw materials, with a reduced pH value after sterilization and fermentation, and with or without the addition of food additives, nutritional fortification substances, fruits and vegetables, cereals, etc. before or after fermentation.
Highlight 1
Adding concentrated milk to the raw materials of fermented milk is a major highlight of the new national standard. The China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment stated that in the selection of raw materials for the new national standard, concentrated milk for food industry use is added, and the raw materials for fermented milk and flavored fermented milk are modified from the original "using raw bovine (ovine) milk or milk powder as raw material" to "using one or more of raw bovine (ovine) milk, concentrated milk for food industry, and milk powder as raw materials". Among them, "not less than 80%" means that the content of milk solids in every 100 grams of fermented milk (excluding fruits, vegetables, and grains) is not less than the content of milk solids in 80 grams of milk.
According to GB 13102-2022 National Food Safety Standard Concentrated Dairy Products, concentrated milk for food industry is a product "made only from raw bovine (ovine) milk, either skimmed or not, through processes such as concentration to remove only part of the water, and used as a raw material for the food industry, including concentrated bovine milk and concentrated goat milk."
Interpretation
Song Liang, the leader of the expert group of the China Agricultural Reclamation Dairy Alliance, said that after the water in the milk emulsion is reduced by concentrated milk, it is convenient to make foods such as cheese and yogurt, and the protein content of the products can be increased.
Zhong Kai, Director of the Center for Food and Health Information Exchange of Kexin, explained that concentrated milk is made by removing part of the water from raw milk. From the perspective of process control, its nutrition can be kept almost unchanged, and it is more convenient for storage and transportation, which is beneficial to long-distance transportation. In addition, concentrated milk for food industry gives enterprises more room for innovation and enables them to produce yogurt with higher nutritional value.
A large dairy enterprise stated that the addition of concentrated milk as a raw material in the new national standard can enrich the types of raw materials for fermented milk, increase the flexibility of the production process, and promote the healthy development of the dairy product market.
Highlight 2
The new national standard has lowered the acidity indicator of fermented milk and flavored fermented milk from ≥70°T to ≥60°T (only applicable to full-fat products).
Interpretation
The China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment explained that milk protein can maintain good curdling properties, enabling fermentation to proceed smoothly and continuously produce lactic acid. The lactic acid generated not only endows the product with a unique taste but also inhibits the growth of harmful microorganisms, ensuring the product's technological quality and safety.
Zhong Kai said that the downward adjustment of the acidity limit of yogurt in the new national standard means that the fermentation time of yogurt can be appropriately shortened in the future, which is helpful for enterprises to save energy and reduce emissions.
According to the above-mentioned dairy enterprise, appropriately reducing the acidity requirements is beneficial to the improvement of product quality.
Highlight 3
The new national standard deleted the interpretation on yeast indicator. Zhong Kai explained this by saying that it is very difficult to completely avoid the introduction of yeast in the production process of yogurt. For example, some yogurts are added with ingredients such as nuts, grains, fruits, and jams, which may naturally carry yeast. On the other hand, commercial fermenting agents (lactic acid bacteria preparations) also cannot be completely free of yeast. In addition, some special yogurts are fermented by yeast.
The above-mentioned dairy enterprise stated that yeast is one of the hygiene - indicating bacteria in the processing of fermented milk. However, the risk posed by yeast itself is relatively low. Moreover, indicators such as coliforms and molds are retained in the new national standard, so deleting the yeast indicator will not reduce the risk control level.
Highlight 4
For products undergone heat treatment after fermentation, they should be marked as "XX heat-treated fermented milk", "XX heat-treated flavored fermented milk", "XX heat-treated yogurt" or "XX heat-treated flavored yogurt".
For products produced entirely from milk powder, "reconstituted milk" should be marked in a position adjacent to the product name.
For products produced using part of milk powder, "Contains XX% reconstituted milk" should be marked in a position adjacent to the product name (XX% refers to the mass fraction of the added milk powder in the total milk solids in the product).
Interpretation
In Song Liang's view, with the accelerating innovation speed of the yogurt market, the old national standard was difficult to meet the current market demands. The new national standard, which includes requirements such as adding concentrated milk as a yogurt raw material and lowering acidity, is in line with the current market development trend. Adjusting the national standard according to market demands also encourages major dairy enterprises to develop more high - quality and creative new products, which is conducive to improving product quality and promoting the development of the dairy product market.
Source: China Consumer News
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