Only Reason Canadian Processors Are Importing Diafiltered Milk Is That It’s ‘A Cheaper Ingredient’

Longueil, Quebec—Following the establishment of a temporary national program to encourage the use of Canadian milk in cheese manufacturing, Agropur Cooperative announced Tuesday that it is immediately discontinuing the use of imported diafiltered milk.

The interim national program, which supports access to Canadian ingredients at competitive prices, has been in effect since May 1, and will remain in effect through July 31, 2016, Agropur noted. It was established by the Canadian Milk Supply Management Committee, which is chaired by the Canadian Dairy Commission (CDC) and includes representatives of the marketing boards and governments of all the Canadian provinces.

“While the interim national program is temporary, its creation is good news since it makes it possible for us to stop using imported diafiltered milk while remaining competitive and supporting our members and all Canadian milk producers,” said Serge Riendeau, Agropur’s president.

“We had pledged to stop importing diafiltered milk as soon as conditions allowed. Today, as a result of this program, we are in a position to do so,” Riendeau added.

“Diafiltered milk was created to circumvent import rules and Canada’s cheese compositional standards,” Riendeau noted last month when he and three other agriculture and dairy leaders from Quebec demanded that the Canadian government enforce cheese compositional standards.

At the borderr, diafiltered milk is considered an ingredient (protein substance) by the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA), but once in Canada, it is considered milk by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), an inconsistency that “must be corrected. The government must acknowledge that producers and the majority of processors demand that it take action and apply its own rules,” Riendeau said.

Diafiltered milk “was developed for the sole purpose of circumventing Canadian border controls and Canadian cheese standards. These proteins are being used to replace Canadian skim milk in the making of cheese and yogurt, and there are no technical limitations on their use in the manufacturing process,” Dominique Benoit, senior vice president, institutional affairs and communications, Agropur, noted at a Canadian Parliament House of Commons hearing in March.

“Diafiltered milk should be treated as an ingredient in the cheese and yogurt composition standards and should therefore have to respect the letter and the spirit of the standards,” Benoit added. “As well, verification rules need to be strengthened to ensure compliance with the standards.”

Agropur also makes cheese in the US, but there’s “no reason, no rationale” for the company to make cheese using diafiltered milk, Benoit said. “The reason Canadian processors are importing UF diafiltered milk is that it’s a cheaper ingredient because it circumvents the tariff and we can use it without restriction in production.”

Diafiltered milk is currently being imported into Canada as an “ingredient,” allowing it to enter Canada tariff-free, according to Wally Smith, president of Dairy Farmers of Canada.

Canada’s cheese compositional standards require that a minimum percentage of the protein used in cheesemaking be sourced from milk, he noted.

Some processors have taken to using milk protein substances, such as diafiltered milk, as part of their required minimum percentage of “milk” when making cheese, instead of using it as part of their allowable percentage of “ingredients,” Smith continued.

“Diafiltered milk cannot be an ‘ingredient’ when it crosses the border, and ‘milk’ when it comes to making cheese,” Smith added. The rules that are in place are not being enforced, and this is causing revenue losses estimated at $231 million per year for Canadian dairy farmers.

“The enforcement of the compositional standards for cheese does not mean that dairy farmers are looking to stop imports, nor does it in any way alter the rules governing the importation of diafiltered milk into Canada as an ingredient,” Smith continued. “American companies seeking to export diafiltered milk into Canada as an ingredient remain free to do so.”