On June 11, 2021, FDA published in the Federal Register a final rule amending the standard of identity for yogurt, 21 CFR 131.200. The final rule, more than a decade in coming, (proposed rule was published in 2009) has been a priority under FDA’s Nutrition Innovation Strategy. Under the final rule, FDA will eliminate the standards of identity for low-fat and non-fat yogurts, now covered under 21 CFR 130.10, which specifies how a standard of identity food can be modified to use a nutrient content claim. Among other things, the final rule permits reconstituted forms of basic dairy ingredients and also provides new flexibility for types of nutritive carbohydrate sweeteners added to yogurt. The rule establishes minimum numbers of active and live cultures when there is a label claim about them. And, while leaving unchanged the minimum percent milkfat and percent milk solids not fat, the new rule also revises the minimum titratable acidity to not less than 0.7 percent prior to addition of flavoring ingredients.
In the preamble, FDA acknowledges the changes in technology for yogurt production, and notes that the rule will provide flexibility to manufacturers of the product.
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Posted in Did You Know, Foods.