115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2322 

AN ACT 

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, 
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†S 2322 ES

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Codifying Useful Regu3 latory Definitions Act’’ or the ‘‘CURD Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds as follows: 

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

7 cheese’’ in order to maintain transparency and con8 sistency for consumers so that they may differen9 tiate ‘‘natural cheese’’ from ‘‘process cheese’’. 

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

11 within the cheese making industry for more than 50 

12 years and is well-established. 

13 SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF NATURAL CHEESE. 

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

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

16 adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(ss)(1) The term ‘natural cheese’ means cheese that 

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

19 which may be coated, that is produced— 

20 ‘‘(A) by— 

21 ‘‘(i) coagulating wholly or partly the pro22 tein of milk, skimmed milk, partly skimmed 

23 milk, cream, whey cream, or buttermilk, or any 

24 combination of such ingredients, through the 

25 action of rennet or other suitable coagulating 

26 agents, and by partially draining the whey re-
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1 sulting from the coagulation, while respecting 

2 the principle that cheese-making results in a 

3 concentration of milk protein (in particular, the 

4 casein portion), and that consequently, the pro5 tein content of the cheese will be distinctly 

6 higher than the protein level of the blend of the 

7 above milk materials from which the cheese was 

8 made; or 

9 ‘‘(ii) processing techniques involving coagu10 lation of the protein of milk or products ob11 tained from milk to produce an end-product 

12 with similar physical, chemical, and 

13 organoleptic characteristics as the product de14 scribed in subclause (i); and 

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

16 suitable non-milk derived ingredients of the 

17 type permitted in the standards of identity de18 scribed in clause (B) as natural cheese; or 

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

20 under part 133 of title 21, Code of Federal Regula21 tions (or any successor regulations), other than the 

22 standards described in subparagraph (2) or any fu23 ture standards adopted by the Secretary in accord24 ance with subparagraph (2)(I). 

25 ‘‘(2) Such term does not include— 
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1 ‘‘(A) pasteurized process cheeses as defined in 

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

3 Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regu4 lations); 

5 ‘‘(B) pasteurized process cheese foods as de6 fined in section 133.173 or 133.174 of title 21, Code 

7 of Federal Regulations (or any successor regula8 tions); 

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

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

11 Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regu12 lations); 

13 ‘‘(D) pasteurized process cheese spreads as de14 fined in section 133.179 or 133.180 of title 21, Code 

15 of Federal Regulations (or any successor regula16 tions); 

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

18 section 133.167 or 133.168 of title 21, Code of Fed19 eral Regulations (or any successor regulations); 

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

21 described in any of clauses (A) through (E); or 

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

23 133.123, 133.124, or 133.125 title 21, Code of Fed24 eral Regulations (or any successor regulations); 
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1 ‘‘(H) grated American cheese food as defined in 

2 section 133.147 of title 21, Code of Federal Regula3 tions (or any successor regulations); or 

4 ‘‘(I) any other product the Secretary may des5 ignate as a process cheese. 

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

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

8 21, Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regula9 tions) and includes the lacteal secretions from animals 

10 other than cows.’’. 

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

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

13 adding at the end the following: 

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

15 cheese’ as a factual descriptor of a category of cheese un16 less the food meets the definition of natural cheese under 

17 section 201(ss), except that nothing in this paragraph 

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

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

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

21 policy statements issued by the Secretary.’’. 

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

23 the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 
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1 343–1(a)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘or 403(w)’’ and in2 serting ‘‘403(w), or 403(z)’’. 

Passed the Senate December 13, 2018. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2322 

AN ACT 

To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic 

Act to define the term natural cheese.