A new state standard regulating cheese production came into force in Belarus on 1 January 2010, the State Standardization Committee told.

The new standard is supposed to improve the quality and the competitive ability of Belarusian cheeses, encourage the use of modern packaging and labeling solutions, increasing the list of quality indicators and methods to control them. The new standard will largely beef up the ability of Belarusian manufacturers to diversify their export and think about their future because the new standard is reconciled with Russian and international regulations.

It was learnt from Alla Akhramenko, Head of the Standardization Department of the Meat and Dairy Industry Institute of the Food Research Center of the Belarusian Academy of Sciences, that the new standard had been brought about by the need to bring the industry’s standards up to date and Russia’s revision of cheese standards as from 1 January 2010.

The new standard is applied to twelve cheeses. It has laid down requirements for raw stock, ingredients and food addictives. The standard specifies organoleptic qualities, forms, mass and size of cheeses. The standard rates cheeses using their organoleptic qualities, packaging and labeling.

The standard stipulates requirements for packaged and unpackaged cheeses. It has systematized requirements for labeling and has introduced new contemporary labeling methods.

The standard enforces requirements for the fat component in cheeses. Only milk fat is acceptable. The requirement is especially urgent due to a considerable number of imported cheeses, which contain fat of vegetable origin instead of milk one.