Draft Mozzarella Cheese CRD March 2025

The United States Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has issued a Special Notice seeking industry and public comment on the Draft Mozzarella Cheese Commodity Requirements Document (CRD) for March 2025. The notice specifically addresses updates to existing cheese procurement specifications, focusing on detailed requirements for Low Moisture Part-Skim (LMPS) and Lite Mozzarella cheese products. This draft document is part of the agency's ongoing efforts to standardize and improve commodity procurement guidelines for dairy products. The Special Notice was published on March 21, 2025, with comments being solicited from stakeholders in the cheese manufacturing industry. The document covers comprehensive technical specifications for various cheese formats including shredded, frozen, chilled, bulk processor pack, and string cheese.

The primary objective of this Special Notice is to gather feedback on proposed changes to the Mozzarella Cheese CRD, with key updates including new warranty periods for different cheese pack types. Specifically, bulk processor packs without Natamycin will have a 15-day warranty, while packs with Natamycin will have a 30-day warranty. The notice also introduces two additional microbiological analyses to the existing requirements. Contractors and industry stakeholders are invited to submit comments directly to Allison Reynolds at Allison.Reynolds@usda.gov by March 28th, 2025. While there is no specific set-aside for this opportunity, potential participants must be cheese manufacturers capable of meeting stringent USDA specifications, including production using pasteurized U.S. milk in USDA-approved facilities. The document falls under the Cheese Manufacturing NAICS category (311513) and Dairy Foods and Eggs PSC category (8910), indicating its focus on dairy product procurement standards.