C.F.R. » Title 21 » CHAPTER I—FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES › SUBCHAPTER B—FOOD FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION › PART 133—CHEESES AND RELATED CHEESE PRODUCTS › Subpart B—Requirements for Specific Standardized Cheese and Related Products

21 C.F.R. § 133.165

Parmesan and reggiano cheese

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(a) Parmesan cheese, reggiano cheese, is the food prepared from milk and other ingredients specified in this section, by the procedure set forth in paragraph (b) of this section, or by another procedure which produces a finished cheese having the same physical and chemical properties as the cheese produced when the procedure set forth in paragraph (b) of this section is used. It is characterized by a granular texture and a hard and brittle rind. It grates readily. It contains not more than 32 percent of moisture, and its solids contain not less than 32 percent of milkfat, as determined by the methods prescribed in § 133.5 (a), (b), and (d). It is cured for not less than 10 months.

(b) Milk, which may be pasteurized or clarified or both, and which may be warmed, is subjected to the action of harmless lactic-acid-producing bacteria, present in such milk or added thereto. Sufficient rennet, or other safe and suitable milk-clotting enzyme that produces equivalent curd formation, or both, with or without purified calcium chloride in a quantity not more than 0.02 percent (calculated as anhydrous calcium chloride) of the weight of the milk, is added to set the milk to a semisolid mass. Harmless artificial coloring may be added. The mass is cut into pieces no larger than wheat kernels, heated, and stirred until the temperature reaches between 115 °F and 125 °F. The curd is allowed to settle and is then removed from the kettle or vat, drained for a short time, placed in hoops, and pressed. The pressed curd is removed and salted in brine, or dry-salted. The cheese is cured in a cool, ventilated room. The rind of the cheese may be coated or colored. A harmless preparation of enzymes of animal or plant origin capable of aiding in the curing or development of flavor of parmesan cheese may be added during the procedure, in such quantity that the weight of the solids of such preparation is not more than 0.1 percent of the weight of the milk used.

(c)(1) For the purposes of this section, the word “milk” means cow's milk, which may be adjusted by separating part of the fat therefrom or by adding thereto one or more of the following: Cream, skim milk, concentrated skim milk, nonfat dry milk, water in a quantity sufficient to reconstitute any concentrated skim milk or nonfat dry milk used.

(2) Such milk may be bleached by the use of benzoyl peroxide or a mixture of benzoyl peroxide with potassium alum, calcium sulfate, and magnesium carbonate; but the weight of the benzoyl peroxide is not more than 0.002 percent of the weight of the milk bleached, and the weight of the potassium alum, calcium sulfate, and magnesium carbonate, singly or combined, is not more than six times the weight of the benzoyl peroxide used. If milk is bleached in this manner, sufficient vitamin A is added to the curd to compensate for the vitamin A or its precursors destroyed in the bleaching process, and artificial coloring is not used.

(d) Safe and suitable antimycotic agent(s), the cumulative levels of which shall not exceed current good manufacturing practice may be added to the surface of the cheese.

(e) Label declaration. Each of the ingredients used in the food shall be declared on the label as required by the applicable sections of parts 101 and 130 of this chapter, except that enzymes of animal, plant, or microbial origin may be declared as “enzymes”.

[42 FR 14366, Mar. 15, 1977, as amended at 48 FR 49014, Oct. 24, 1983; 49 FR 10095, Mar. 19, 1984; 58 FR 2894, Jan. 6, 1993]
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 4 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1999–2023 · leading case: Interprofession du Gruyere v. U.S. Dairy Exp. Council, 61 F.4th 407 (4th Cir. 2023).
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Interprofession du Gruyere v. U.S. Dairy Exp. Council, 61 F.4th 407 (4th Cir. 2023). · cites it 2× “571,798 (certification mark for ROQUEFORT); see also 21 C.F.R. § 133.165 (standard of identity for “Parmesan and reggiano cheese”); REGGIANO, Registration No.”
Elm City Cheese Co. v. Federico, 752 A.2d 1037 (Conn. 1999). “See 21 C.F.R. § 133.165 (a) (1999). Elm City's product, which is not a true parmesan cheese but is, rather, sold to other cheesemakers to use as “filler” in their cheeses, is dried in a matter of weeks.”
Ann Bell v. Albertson Companies, Inc. (7th Cir. 2020). “16743 -01 (1999), citing 21 C.F.R. § 133.165 , which requires a ten-month curing period for Parmesan cheese.”
Ann Bell v. Albertson Companies, Inc. (7th Cir. 2020). “16743 -01 (1999), citing 21 C.F.R. § 133.165 , which requires a ten-month curing period for Parmesan cheese.”
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