New Quality Standard for the Development and Marketing of Yogurt Adopted

The Council of Ministers, on a proposal from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment, has approved the new quality standard for the development and marketing of yogurt. T

The Council of Ministers, on a proposal from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment, has approved the new quality standard for the development and marketing of yogurt. The Royal Decree is to update and simplify existing legislation, to adapt to new market realities and the Community rules on the matter.

Expiry Date

This strengthens the labeling requirements by eliminating sections on the expiration date of yogurt and limit sales of twenty days from the date of manufacture, as required by the standard set in 2003.

Some sections had been repealed by Royal Decree approved in March 2013 on standards of quality of food products.

Thus, yogurt labeling dates, as with the generality of foodstuffs is governed by European horizontal legislation on food hygiene, and according to it, it is the food industry who must determine the appropriate date for each product, as well as their time limit.

Adaptation to Market

Moreover, the new standard adapts its contents to the new market reality, eliminating restrictions that placed Spanish producers at a disadvantage.

This is allowed, as in other countries of the European Union, the use in the composition of a dairy ingredient such as cream, necessary for the preparation of creamy yogurt, is already on the market. Thus fair competition between industries is guaranteed to improve the sector's competitiveness and provided with the same terms to all producers within the European Union.

In that vein, the new standard, which provides for six types of designations of yogurt as "natural", "naturally sweetened", "sweetened", "fruit, juices and other foods", "flavored" and "pasteurized after fermentation "also regulates commodities that are included in different varieties such as flavorings, fruits, vegetables, jams, juices, honey, nuts and other foods. It also provides details of composition which should be reflected in the labeling.

Thus, the Ministry, through the General Directorate of Food Industry, continues its work to modernize food standards, in order to create a suitable framework for improving the competitiveness of the Spanish food industry and diversify the supply of food products on the market.

Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment