(a) Description.

(1) Muenster cheese, munster cheese, is the food prepared by the procedure set forth in paragraph (a)(3) of this section or by any other procedure which produces a finished cheese having the same physical and chemical properties. The minimum milkfat content is 50 percent by weight of the solids and the maximum moisture content is 46 percent by weight, as determined by the methods decribed in §133.5. The dairy ingredients used are pasteurized.

(2) The phenol equivalent of 0.25 gram of muenster cheese is not more than 3 micrograms, as determined by the methods described in §133.5.

(3) One or more of the dairy ingredients specified in paragraph (b)(1) of this section may be warmed and is subjected to the action of a harmless lactic acid-producing bacterial culture. One or more of the clotting enzymes specified in paragraph (b)(2) of this section is added to set the dairy ingredients to a semisolid mass. After coagulation the mass is divided into small portions, stirred, and heated, with or without dilution with water or salt brine, so as to promote and regulate the separation of whey and curd. The curd is transferred to forms permitting drainage of the whey. During drainage the curd may be pressed and turned. After drainage the curd is removed from the forms and is salted. One or more of the other optional ingredients specified in paragraph (b)(3) of this section may be added during the procedure.

(b) Optional ingredients. The following safe and suitable ingredients may be used:

(1) Dairy ingredients. Milk, nonfat milk, or cream, as defined in §133.3, used alone or in combination.

(2) Clotting enzymes. Rennet and/or other clotting enzymes of animal, plant, or microbial origin.

(3) Other optional ingredients.

(i) Coloring.

(ii) Calcium chloride in an amount not more than 0.02 percent (calculated as anhydrous calcium chloride) of the weight of the dairy ingredients, used as a coagulation aid.

(iii) Enzymes of animal, plant, or microbial origin used in curing or flavor development.

(iv) Antimycotic agents, the cumulative levels of which shall not exceed current good manufacturing practice, may be added to the surface of the cheese.

(v) Vegetable oil, used as a coating for the rind.

(c) Nomenclature. The name of the food is “muenster cheese” or, alternatively, “munster cheese”.

(d) 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:

(1) Enzymes of animal, plant, or microbial origin may be declared as “enzymes”; and

(2) The dairy ingredients may be declared, in descending order of predominance, by the use of the terms “milkfat and nonfat milk” or “nonfat milk and milkfat”, as appropriate.

[54 FR 32057, Aug. 4, 1989; 54 FR 35756, Aug. 29, 1989, as amended at 58 FR 2894, Jan. 6, 1993]