Commission Decision of 18 December 1996 laying down provisions for the implementation of Council Directive 96/16/EC on statistical surveys of milk and milk products (Text with EEA relevance) (97/80/EC)

CHEESE (24) U.K.

Cheese: shall be a fresh or matured, solid or semi-solid product, obtained by coagulating milk, skimmed milk, partly skimmed milk, cream, whey cream or buttermilk, alone or in combination, by the action of rennet or other suitable coagulating agents, and by partly draining the whey resulting from such coagulation. (Codex Alimentarius — FAO, Volume XVI, Standard A-6).

— Table A:	cows' milk only, also includes cheese used for the manufacture of processed cheese but excludes processed cheese.
— Table B:	includes all the various categories of cheeses (and curds) obtained from all kinds of milk (242), also includes ricotta, the quantities of cheese must exclude the quantities of cheese used to make processed cheese, the subdivision into main hardness categories depends on the moisture content on a fat-free basis (MFFB):

Soft cheese (2421): cheese in which the MFFB when refined is in general not less than 68 %.

Semi-soft cheese (2422): cheese in which the MFFB when refined is in general not less than 62 % and less than 68 %.

Semi-hard cheese (2423): cheese in which the MFFB when refined is in general not less than 55 % and less than 62 %.

Hard cheese (2424): cheese in which the MFFB when refined is in general not less than 47 % and less than 55 %.

Very hard cheese (2425): cheese in which the MFFB when refined is in general less than 47 %.

Fresh cheese (2426): product obtained from sour milk from which most of the serum has been removed (e.g. by draining or pressing). Also includes curds (other than in powder form) containing up to 30 % by weight in the form of sugar and added fruits.

• Includes fresh whey cheese (obtained by concentrating whey and adding milk or milk fat).