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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 111 / Friday, June 11, 2021 / Rules and Regulations yogurt or does not comport with consumer expectations about the food.
Although the comments provided no data to support that yogurt containing reconstituted forms of dairy ingredients are less acceptable or differ in taste, flavor, or texture to yogurts produced with other basic dairy ingredients, the use of reconstituted forms of dairy ingredients and other optional dairy ingredients in yogurt throughout the marketplace indicates that the basic nature and essential characteristics of yogurt are maintained in producing acceptable and desired yogurt products.
Therefore, the final rule includes the reconstituted versions of cream, milk, partially skimmed milk, and skim milk among the basic dairy ingredients in 131.200b.
Comment 12 One comment asked us to expand the list of basic dairy ingredients to include ultrafiltered UF
milk, its resulting dried products which were stated to include milk protein concentrate and isolate, and skim milk powder SMP. The comment described SMP as an ingredient nearly identical to skim milk except for the removal of water and the standardization of protein. The comment stated that allowing UF milk as a basic dairy ingredient for yogurt is consistent with our proposed rule that allows the use of UF milk in standardized cheese and cheese products 70 FR 60751, October 19, 2005. The comment said that the addition of these ingredients does not adversely affect yogurt characteristics or safety.
Response 12 The current yogurt standard 131.200c lists cream, milk, partially skimmed milk, or skim milk as the basic dairy ingredients. Proposed 131.200b would expand the list by allowing the reconstituted versions of these ingredients. Reconstituted versions are concentrated or dry forms of milk to which water may be added, in a sufficient quantity to reconstitute the dry or concentrated material to fluid form.
The use of fluid UF milk and its dried products as basic ingredients in yogurt is not consistent with the basic nature of yogurt. Fluid UF milk and its dried products are distinctly different from milk and dried milk, respectively. The process of ultrafiltration selectively removes not only water, but also lactose, minerals, and water-soluble vitamins, resulting in a compositionally different ingredient. The use of UF milk also affects the essential characteristics of yogurt, which is a fermented product from milk. The lactose in milk, which is significantly reduced in UF milk, is the substrate for the fermentation process by the bacterial culture in the
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production of yogurt. In addition, the rationale underlying our 2005 proposal for use of fluid UF milk in standardized cheeses and related cheese products 70
FR 60751 is not applicable to the use of fluid UF milk as a basic ingredient in yogurt because cheese and yogurt have fundamentally different production procedures and are different in their basic nature and essential characteristics. Moreover, the data and evidence the Agency relied on to support its tentative conclusions in the 2005 proposal were specific to standardized cheeses and related cheese products. For these reasons, we decline to revise 131.200b to add fluid UF
milk and its dried products for use as basic dairy ingredients in yogurt.
We wish to make clear that the concentrated or dried ingredient used for reconstitution must be such that the reconstituted form does not differ significantly from the respective cream, milk, partially skimmed milk, or skim milk i.e., has reestablished the same specified water:solids ratio. For example, concentrated milk 131.115
and dry whole milk 131.147 are appropriate ingredients to reconstitute to produce reconstituted milk. Nonfat dry milk 131.125 is an appropriate ingredient to be used with water to produce reconstituted skim milk.
Although fluid UF milk, its resulting dried derivatives, and SMP are not basic dairy ingredients under 131.200b, if safe and suitable, they can be used in yogurt as optional dairy ingredients under 131.200c. Moreover, limiting the basic dairy ingredients to those in 131.200b is consistent with producing yogurt with the taste, flavor, and texture that consumers expect.
Comment 13 Two comments agreed on limiting the use of whey and whey ingredients only as optional dairy ingredients in 131.200c. In addition, one comment strongly opposed the use of whey protein concentrates as a basic dairy ingredient, citing negative impacts on yogurt quality. One comment supported the use of whey protein concentrate and whey protein isolate as basic dairy ingredients in yogurt making, citing their nutritional, functional, and taste properties.
However, the comment did not provide data or evidence to support these assertions.
Response 13 As discussed in the proposed rule 74 FR 2443 at 2453, the use of whey protein concentrates, whey protein isolate, or other similar products as the basic dairy ingredients for yogurt may result in products that are not consistent with the taste, flavor, or texture expected by consumers. There are no new data or information from our
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own research or provided in the comments to cause us to change this position. Therefore, as noted in response 12, the final rule permits only the use of cream, milk, partially skimmed milk, skim milk, or the reconstituted versions of these ingredients as the basic dairy ingredients in the manufacture of yogurt under 131.200b.
E. Section 131.200cOptional Dairy Ingredients The proposed rule at 131.200c would allow the optional use of other safe and suitable milk-derived ingredients to increase the nonfat solids content of the food, provided that the ratio of protein to total nonfat solids of the food and the protein efficiency ratio of all protein present are not decreased as a result of the use of such ingredients.
Proposed 131.200a, would specify that yogurt is a food produced by culturing one or more of the basic dairy ingredients 131.200b and any of the optional dairy ingredients 131.200c with the characterizing bacterial culture.
We discussed that any optional safe and suitable milk-derived ingredients can be used to increase the milk solids not fat of the food above the minimum required 8.25 percent 74 FR 2443 at 2450
through 2451.
Comment 14 The proposed rule, at 131.200c, would allow the use of other safe and suitable milk-derived ingredients to increase the nonfat solids content of the food, provided that the ratio of protein to total nonfat solids of the food, and the protein efficiency ratio of all protein present is not decreased as a result of adding such ingredients.
Several comments agreed with the proposed limit on the use of optional dairy ingredients. However, other comments opposed the use of ingredients other than fluid milk in the manufacture of yogurt. Some comments said that, without a defined list of optional safe and suitable milk-derived ingredients, processors would make determinations based on financial advantages rather than consumer preferences.
Many comments strongly opposed the use of milk-derived ingredients such as milk protein concentrate MPC and whey products. The comments expressed concerns about the safety and nutritional quality of such ingredients, the adverse effect on yogurt quality, and the negative economic impact on the U.S. dairy farmers. Some comments opposed the use of MPC, which the comments considered to be an inferior, unregulated, and mostly imported dairy ingredient. Further, the comments opposing the use of MPC questioned
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