Safe Food for Canadians Regulations

Marginal note:Consumer prepackaged cheese

• 249 (1) The principal display panel of a consumer prepackaged cheese must bear

  • (a) the relative firmness of the cheese;

  • (b) except in the case of a soft white cheese, the principal ripening characteristic of the cheese;

  • (c) in the case of hard cheese that is intended for grating and has a moisture content of 34% or less, the expressions “Hard Grating Cheese” and “fromage dur à râper”; and

  • (d) in the case of a mixture of grated or shredded cheeses, the varieties of the cheeses, in descending order of their proportion in the cheese.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (2) Subsection (1) does not apply in respect of

  • (a) cheddar cheese;

  • (b) cream cheese with or without added ingredients;

  • (c) cream cheese spread with or without added ingredients;

  • (d) whey cheese;

  • (e) processed cheese with or without added ingredients;

  • (f) processed cheese food with or without added ingredients;

  • (g) processed cheese spread with or without added ingredients;

  • (h) cold-pack cheese with or without added ingredients;

  • (i) cold-pack cheese food with or without added ingredients;

  • (j) cottage cheese;

  • (k) creamed cottage cheese; and

  • (l) any cheese that is listed in Part I or II of the table to section B.08.033 of the Food and Drug Regulations.

• Marginal note:Relative firmness

  (3) The relative firmness of the cheese must be identified by the following expressions:

  • (a) “Soft White Cheese” and “fromage à pâte fraîche” or “fromage frais”, if it has a moisture on fat-free basis content of 80% or more;

  • (b) “Soft Cheese” and “fromage à pâte molle”, if it has a moisture on fat-free basis content of more than 67% but less than 80%;

  • (c) “Semi-soft Cheese” and “fromage à pâte demi-ferme”, if it has a moisture on fat-free basis content of more than 62% but not more than 67%;

  • (d) “Firm Cheese” and “fromage à pâte ferme”, if it has a moisture on fat-free basis content of 50% or more but not more than 62%; and

  • (e) “Hard Cheese” and “fromage à pâte dure”, if it has a moisture on fat-free basis content of less than 50%.

• Marginal note:Principal ripening characteristic

  (4) The principal ripening characteristic of the cheese must be identified by the following words or expressions:

  • (a) “Ripened” and “affiné”, if the ripening process develops within the whole body of the cheese;

  • (b) “Surface Ripened” and “affiné en surface”, if the ripening process starts from the surface and moves into the body of the cheese;

  • (c) “Blue Veined” and “à pâte persillée”, if veins of mould occur within the body of the cheese; and

  • (d) “Unripened” and “non affiné” or “Fresh” and “frais”, if the cheese has not undergone any ripening.