The previous regulation governing the cream trade has been in place since May 1934. The draft regulation aims to create rules that are “in line with current standards”, it says.
It updates the definitions of cream, whipped cream and light cream by lowering the minimum fat content.
It adds an alternative definition for ‘whole cream’ and it gives manufacturers the option to voluntarily indicate the fat percentage on pack for all cream products.
It also explicitly states that dairy processors are allowed to use a “recombination process” to make cream and light cream.
Cream, for instance, is defined as a product containing at least 10 % fat that was separated from milk “either by letting it stand or by centrifugal processing, or that was obtained by a recombination process using a high-intensity mixer to create an emulsion of butterfat in water starting from butterfat and milk”.
Whipped cream and whole cream must contain at least 30 % fat.
The draft regulation authorises manufacturers to mix cream or butterfat that has a high-fat content with milk in order to obtain cream or light cream with “a well-defined fat content”.
Manufacturers may also indicate the fat percentage of the product on pack.
The Belgian government has informed the European Commission of the regulation.