Cheese has more federal standards than almost any other food: FDA defines cheddar, Swiss, mozzarella, cream cheese and dozens more by their milkfat, moisture and method, and a cheese has to meet the standard to use the name. Three parts of those standards decide a small maker's labels. First, in the cheese standards "milk" means cow's milk unless a standard says otherwise, so a goat's milk cheese made like cheddar can't be called cheddar. The broad hard and semisoft cheese standards do allow goat's and sheep's milk, and then the name says "made from goat's milk". Second, a cheese made from unpasteurized milk has to be cured at 35°F or above for at least 60 days under the standards that allow it. Third, allergens: goat's and sheep's milk count as milk, and FDA wants the animal named, as in "goat milk". Fresh goat cheese has no federal standard, so it's labeled by its common name. Add the net weight on the front, ingredients, and your name and address. In the example below, a Massachusetts goat dairy labels three cheeses.
The short version
- Many cheese names are standards of identity: meet the standard or use another name.
- In the cheese standards, "milk" means cow's milk unless the standard says otherwise.
- Hard and semisoft cheese standards allow goat's and sheep's milk; the name then says "made from goat's milk".
- Unpasteurized milk: cured at 35°F or above for at least 60 days.
- Goat and sheep milk are milk allergens; name the animal, as in "goat milk".
- Fresh goat cheese has no federal standard: use its common name.
- TaroStack keeps each make as a batch with its lot and its aging dates. More below.
The parts of a cheese label
| Part | What it says |
|---|---|
| Name | The standard's name if it meets the standard, or a common or fanciful name that isn't misleading |
| Other milks | "Made from goat's milk", in the name, for hard and semisoft cheeses |
| Net weight | On the front; random-weight cuts get their own weight on each piece |
| Ingredients | Milk by animal, salt, cultures; enzymes may be declared as "enzymes" |
| Allergens | Milk, with the animal named for goat or sheep milk |
| Who made it | Your name and address |
What a cheese costs to make is in cheese making business plan. Raw milk sold to drink is a separate subject, in raw milk laws by state, and the cheese plant's own records in cheese HACCP plan.
The rules
| Rule | Where |
|---|---|
| Milk means cow's milk | In the cheese standards, unless a standard says otherwise (21 CFR 133.3) |
| Cheddar | At least 50% milkfat in the solids, at most 39% moisture; unpasteurized milk cured at 35°F or more for 60 days (21 CFR 133.113) |
| Hard cheeses | Up to 39% moisture; cow's, goat's or sheep's milk; "made from ___" for other milks (21 CFR 133.150) |
| Semisoft cheeses | Over 39% and up to 50% moisture; the same milks and naming; raw milk cured 60 days (21 CFR 133.187) |
| Allergens | Goat and sheep milk are milk; name the animal, as in "goat milk" (FDA allergen labeling FAQ) |
States add their own dairy plant licenses and sometimes label lines. This is general information, not legal advice.
An example: a Massachusetts goat dairy's three labels
Housatonic Creamery, a made-up goat cheese maker in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, sells fresh goat cheese, an aged tomme and cheese curds:
| Cheese | Name on the label | Ingredients | Contains |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fresh chèvre, 4 oz | Fresh Goat Cheese | Pasteurized goat milk, salt, cultures, enzymes | Goat milk |
| Aged tomme, about 44% moisture, raw milk | Housatonic Tomme, Semisoft Cheese Made from Goat's Milk | Goat milk, salt, cultures, enzymes | Goat milk |
| Curds, 8 oz | Goat Milk Cheese Curds | Pasteurized goat milk, salt, cultures, enzymes | Goat milk |
The curds are made the cheddar way, but the cheddar standard's milk is cow's milk, so the bag says "goat milk cheese curds" instead of "cheddar curds". The tomme is made from raw milk, so each wheel's make date and the date it reaches 60 days in the aging room are written down, and no wheel is cut for sale before then. The tomme sold by the piece at the farm shop gets its own net weight on each piece. The fresh chèvre reads "Net Wt 4.0 oz (113 g)".
Get the label builder
Download the cheese label builder. One sheet: your name and address at the top, then each cheese's name, net weight in grams, ingredients and the major allergens it contains, with the milk named by animal; the net weight line and the Contains line fill in. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
The label says what the cheese is. Which wheels are old enough to cut, and which make each one came from, is a record of its own, and it changes every week as wheels go into the aging room and come out.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps each make as a batch with its lot, so the aging dates and the label sit with the cheese.
Each make a batch. A make of tomme is a batch from its recipe, taking milk, salt and cultures off stock and adding wheels with a lot and a production date.
Holds kept out of stock. Wheels still aging can be held, apart from what's available to sell, until they're released.
Your own fields. Fields of your own on the batch record can hold the make date, the milk's source and the date the wheel reaches 60 days.
| The job | Aging room chalkboard | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Which wheels are 60 days old | Read the chalk | Lots with production dates |
| Wheels not ready to sell | Kept to one side | A hold, kept out of stock |
| Which milk went into a make | A notebook | Lots on the batch |
| Which shops got a wheel | Invoices | One recall report |
Batches, lots, holds and recalls are on every plan, from $49 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.