Only the natural, additive-free product may be called milk, and only the product that hasn’t undergone heat treatment over 40 degrees Celsius or a treatment with equivalent effect may be called raw milk. The names with which milk and dairy products may be marketed, their characteristic features and quality standards, as well as requirements for packaging, labeling and transport have been approved by the Government. The requirements cover both domestic and imported products.
Whole milk is heat-treated milk with a fat content of at least 3.5%. Skimmed milk is milk whose fat content has been reduced to no more than 0.5%. Dairy products are products derived from milk, with addition of certain substances necessary for their manufacture, provided that these substances are not used to replace any milk constituent. Changing the fat content by adding whole milk, semi-skimmed or skimmed milk must be indicated on the labels.
If water is added to dried or concentrated milk products, this shall be considered reconstituted milk products. In this case the denomination “reconstituted” or “recombined” shall be visibly indicated on the packaging. For example, “recombined sour cream”, “reconstituted pasteurized milk”.
The presence of foreign fats in milk and dairy products is prohibited.
The industry will have six months after the standards’ publishing in the Official Gazette to comply.
