Published in the magazine "Form of life" summer 2008 (Magazine of the Tetra Pak company in Russia).
On July 1, 2008, Russia officially introduces a new national standard for milk and its processing products, adopted in August 2007. This document approved a new term -
"Ultra-pasteurized product"... It replaced the previous standard, which provided for the use of the concept - "UHT-processed product". The new term more accurately describes a product that has undergone a special gentle high-temperature treatment. The innovation is the result of many years of work by leading dairy enterprises with the active support of the Russian Dairy Union.
For several years, the Russian Union of Dairy Enterprises, large dairy companies and Tetra Pak have been actively involved in the development of new terminology in the dairy industry. At the same time, the requirements of international legislation were taken into account, in particular, the standards of the Alimentarius Code, directives of the European Union, regulations, international standards. The result of this work was the creation of two documents of state importance: technical regulations and the national standard GOST R 52738-2007 “Milk and milk processing products. Terms and Definitions". The technical regulations are designed to streamline the requirements of state control bodies to the manufacturer, reduce the base of regulatory documents, and harmonize Russian terms with international ones. The regulation for milk and its processing products takes into account the requirements of more than 800 technical and regulatory documents at the level of national standards and technical specifications. Developed simultaneously with technical regulations, the national standard GOST R 52738-2007 also establishes the basic terms and definitions of milk and milk processing products. Both documents introduce new terms that define groups of dairy products such as milk, dairy product (i.e. a pure dairy product made exclusively from milk and its constituents), and a composite dairy product.
An innovation of the regulation and the national standard is the term "UHT milk (milk processing product)", which replaced the term "UHT-processed milk".
In accordance with the new terminological standard, milk, depending on the processing method, is divided into pasteurized, sterilized and ultra-pasteurized. Pasteurized milk - This is milk processed at a temperature of 60-70 ° C for about 10 minutes.
Milk is called sterilizedkept for half an hour at a temperature above 100 ° C. It meets the requirements of industrial sterility and can be stored for up to 6 months at room temperature.
UHT milk also meets the requirements of industrial sterility and can be stored for a long time, but the process of its processing and packaging is different.Such milk undergoes high-temperature (about 137 ° C) processing in a flow in a closed system for only a few seconds (on average 4-7 seconds). This milk is filled in aseptic packaging.
In UHT milk, which tastes like pasteurized milk, all the nutrients are preserved. Moreover, it can be stored for a long time at room temperature. The need to introduce a new term was due to the fact that the term "UHT-processed milk" did not take root in the consumer environment.
The abbreviation not only did not attract the buyer to the product, but, on the contrary, repelled him. It is believed that abbreviations subconsciously can cause a negative attitude towards the product in the consumer. Russian consumers were simply misled by an incomprehensible term, many believed that the product was subjected to some kind of complex physical and chemical effects, which undoubtedly influenced consumer preferences. The terms "UHT" and "UHT milk" are more understandable to the consumer and generate significantly more confidence. New terminology must be taken into account when labeling dairy products. In Russia, the standard is introduced on July 1, 2008 with early application right. Work on the introduction of the term "ultra-pasteurized product" is also carried out in Ukraine and Belarus, where the Russian draft of the terminological standard was taken as a basis.
Larisa Abdullaeva, RESPONSIBLE SECRETARY OF THE RUSSIAN UNION OF THE Dairy INDUSTRY
“If a manufacturer produces sterilized milk and wants to leave this name on the package, then he has the right to do so, even if the process of heat treatment of milk is in the ultra-pasteurization mode. The identification criterion for a product in circulation is the same for both sterilized milk and ultra-pasteurized milk - it is compliance with the requirements of industrial sterility. If the manufacturer uses the methods of UHT milk, then he has the right to amend his technical documents and name his product in a new way - "UHT milk". Nevertheless, if a manufacturer has prepared a large amount of packaging with the old names (“UHT-processed milk”), then no one will force him to destroy it. In accordance with the rules for the implementation of the new standard, the manufacturer develops an individual plan, which includes such items as the additional use of previously ordered packaging, changes to their technical documents, the introduction and development of a new packaging material and only then the introduction of a new term. If the manufacturer himself is the developer of his technical specifications, then he himself makes all the necessary changes. If he produces milk according to technical specifications that were developed, for example, by an industry institute, then such changes should be made by the industry institute, since it is he who holds the original of this technical document. "
The term "UHT milk" is already used in the development of new technical documentation. Thus, at the end of 2007, the National Standard GOST R 52783-2007 “Milk for the nutrition of preschool and school children. Specifications ”(the so-called“ School milk ”, ed. Note), which, like GOST R 52738-2007, comes into force on July 1, 2008 with the right of early application. The standard provides for the use by the manufacturer of only natural milk normalized in terms of fat, followed by ultra-pasteurization and aseptic filling into portioned packaging. Within the framework of the standard, it is possible to produce milk fortified with vitamins (A, C, B1, B2) and iodine (in the form of iodcasein).Information about the new standard was sent by the Russian Union of Dairy Enterprises to all government authorities responsible for feeding children in educational institutions, so there is every reason to expect that from the beginning of the new school year, tenders for the purchase of "School milk" will be held taking into account these innovations.
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