II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 981 

To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to define the term 

natural cheese. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 27, 2023 

Mr. JOHNSON (for himself, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. RISCH, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. 

CRAPO, Mr. BRAUN, and Mr. WELCH) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to 

define the term natural cheese. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Codifying Useful Regu5 latory Definitions Act’’ or the ‘‘CURD Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds as follows: 

8 (1) There is a need to define the term ‘‘natural 

9 cheese’’ in order to maintain transparency and conVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:01 Apr 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S981.IS S981

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1 sistency for consumers so that they may differen2 tiate ‘‘natural cheese’’ from ‘‘process cheese’’. 

3 (2) The term ‘‘natural cheese’’ has been used 

4 within the cheese making industry for more than 50 

5 years and is well-established. 

6 SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF NATURAL CHEESE. 

7 (a) DEFINITION.—Section 201 of the Federal Food, 

8 Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 321) is amended by 

9 adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(tt)(1) The term ‘natural cheese’ means cheese that 

11 is a ripened or unripened soft, semi-soft, or hard product, 

12 which may be coated, that is produced— 

13 ‘‘(A) by— 

14 ‘‘(i) coagulating wholly or partly the pro15 tein of milk, skimmed milk, partly skimmed 

16 milk, cream, whey cream, or buttermilk, or any 

17 combination of such ingredients, through the 

18 action of rennet or other suitable coagulating 

19 agents, and by partially draining the whey re20 sulting from the coagulation, while respecting 

21 the principle that cheese-making results in a 

22 concentration of milk protein (in particular, the 

23 casein portion), and that consequently, the pro24 tein content of the cheese will be distinctly 

25 higher than the protein level of the blend of the 


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1 above milk materials from which the cheese was 

2 made; or 

3 ‘‘(ii) processing techniques involving coagu4 lation of the protein of milk or products ob5 tained from milk to produce an end-product 

6 with similar physical, chemical, and 

7 organoleptic characteristics as the product de8 scribed in subclause (i); and 

9 ‘‘(iii) including the addition of safe and 

10 suitable non-milk derived ingredients of the 

11 type permitted in the standards of identity de12 scribed in clause (B) as natural cheese; or 

13 ‘‘(B) in accordance with standards of identity 

14 under part 133 of title 21, Code of Federal Regula15 tions (or any successor regulations), other than the 

16 standards described in subparagraph (2) or any fu17 ture standards adopted by the Secretary in accord18 ance with subparagraph (2)(I). 

19 ‘‘(2) Such term does not include— 

20 ‘‘(A) pasteurized process cheeses as defined in 

21 section 133.169, 133.170, or 133.171 of title 21, 

22 Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regu23 lations); 

24 ‘‘(B) pasteurized process cheese foods as de25 fined in section 133.173 or 133.174 of title 21, Code 


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1 of Federal Regulations (or any successor regula2 tions); 

3 ‘‘(C) pasteurized cheese spreads as defined in 

4 section 133.175, 133.176, or 133.178 of title 21, 

5 Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regu6 lations); 

7 ‘‘(D) pasteurized process cheese spreads as de8 fined in section 133.179 or 133.180 of title 21, Code 

9 of Federal Regulations (or any successor regula10 tions); 

11 ‘‘(E) pasteurized blended cheeses as defined in 

12 section 133.167 or 133.168 of title 21, Code of Fed13 eral Regulations (or any successor regulations); 

14 ‘‘(F) any products comparable to any product 

15 described in any of clauses (A) through (E); 

16 ‘‘(G) cold pack cheeses as defined in section 

17 133.123, 133.124, or 133.125 title 21, Code of Fed18 eral Regulations (or any successor regulations); 

19 ‘‘(H) grated American cheese food as defined in 

20 section 133.147 of title 21, Code of Federal Regula21 tions (or any successor regulations); or 

22 ‘‘(I) any other product the Secretary may des23 ignate as a process cheese. 

24 ‘‘(3) For purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘milk’ 

25 has the meaning given such term in section 133.3 of title 


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1 21, Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regula2 tions) and includes the lacteal secretions from animals 

3 other than cows.’’. 

4 (b) LABELING.—Section 403 of the Federal Food 

5 Drug and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 343) is amended by 

6 adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(z) If its label or labeling includes the term ‘natural 

8 cheese’ as a factual descriptor of a category of cheese un9 less the food meets the definition of natural cheese under 

10 section 201(tt), except that nothing in this paragraph 

11 shall prohibit the use of the term ‘natural’ or ‘all-natural’, 

12 or a similar claim or statement with respect to a food in 

13 a manner that is consistent with regulations, guidance, or 

14 policy statements issued by the Secretary.’’. 

15 (c) NATIONAL UNIFORMITY.—Section 403A(a)(2) of 

16 the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 

17 343–1(a)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘or 403(x)’’ and in18 serting ‘‘403(x), or 403(z)’’. 

Æ 


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