Domestic Sterilized Pure Milk Will Be Completely Banned From Reconstituted Milk, And The New Trend Of Healthy Diet Will Lead To Industry Reform

Recently, the National Health Commission released a document from the Secretariat of the National Standards Review Committee for Food Safety, entitled "Notice on Solicitation of Comments on 19 National Standards for Food Safety and Amendment Sheets (Exposure Draft)". In this notice, the No. 1 amendment to the National Standard for Food Safety Sterilized Milk (GB25190) is particularly striking. The amendment deleted or adjusted the provisions related to reconstituted milk (reconstituted milk), and clearly stipulated that reconstituted milk would be banned from sterilized milk products produced in China. This decision indicates that the sterilized pure milk sold in the domestic market will no longer be allowed to add reconstituted milk in the future.

The Chinese milk market is mainly divided into two categories: sterilized milk (normal temperature pure milk) and pasteurized milk (low temperature milk). There are significant differences in the use of raw materials between the two types of milk. In addition to raw milk as raw material, sterilized milk was allowed to add reconstituted milk in the past. Reconstituted milk, also known as reduced milk or reduced milk, refers to the concentration and drying of milk into concentrated milk or milk powder, and then adding an appropriate amount of water to make the emulsion with the same proportion of water and solids as the original milk. However, pasteurized milk is strictly prohibited to use reconstituted milk to ensure its freshness and nutritional value.

The revision of the "Sterilized Milk" standard means that the raw materials for the production of sterilized milk will strictly come from a single variety of raw milk, and reconstituted milk will no longer be allowed to be used. This change is not only a positive response to consumers' health needs, but also an inevitable trend for the domestic dairy industry to develop in a higher quality and healthier direction.

In fact, in recent years, reconstituted milk has been rarely seen in pure milk at room temperature. With the increasing attention of consumers to healthy diet and the continuous progress of domestic dairy production technology, raw milk has gradually become a substitute for reconstituted milk, which is widely used in the production of various drinks. The reconstituted milk has gradually lost the favor of consumers due to the nutrient loss and possible additives in the processing process.

This revision does not cover products other than normal temperature pure milk, such as yogurt, modulated milk and milk drinks. However, with the popularity of the concept of healthy diet and consumers' higher requirements for the quality and health of dairy products, it can be predicted that the use of reconstituted milk in these categories will gradually decrease in the future, and raw milk will become the mainstream raw material.

For dairy enterprises, this revision is both a challenge and an opportunity. On the one hand, enterprises need to adjust production processes and raw material procurement strategies to adapt to new standards; On the other hand, it will also encourage enterprises to pay more attention to the quality and health attributes of products, and promote the development of the industry to a higher level.