Evaporated milk would no longer be made with powdered milk

Today, the Council of Ministers will decide whether to approve the changes to the milk regulation, proposed by the Ministry of Agrarian Development and Irrigation (Midagri)in line with one of the demands of the ranchers who started a national strike yesterday.

The main modification establishes that for the elaboration of evaporated milk only fresh (cow) milk is used and the use of powdered milk is not allowed.

And it is that since 2017, the industry is governed by the Codex Alimentariuswhich allows the free use of powdered milk to make this product.

“The preparation of evaporated milk must use as the only ingredient the fresh milk, which comes out of the mammary gland of cows, there is nothing else, and that must be addressed by the State and the authorities. We have already presented the proposal to modify the regulation (of milk) and we are going to fight until we achieve it”, said the minister Oscar Zea.

Carlos LozadaGeneral Director of Livestock Development of Midagri, explained to La República that now the parameters of the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA)but adapted to the Peruvian reality.

Measurement objectives

One of the objectives of the measure is for consumers to be informed of what they eat. That is to say, only that produced solely with fresh milk can be labeled as “evaporated milk”, and that to which a minimum of powdered milk is mixed must be called “concentrated milk”.

“The denomination of evaporated milk it will be reserved exclusively for that produced from fresh milk. When to use milk powder to do recombination, that should no longer be called evaporated milk, but concentrated milk”, specified the specialist.

The other goal is to create an incentive for large dairy companies like Glory and Nestlé buy more from the local rancher. Since, according to Midagri data to January 2022, the industry collected 18% less fresh milk than in January 2021.

Nivia Vargas, president of the Association of Dairy Farmers of Peru (Agalep)pointed out that the import of powdered milk from abroad has increased exponentially, since large dairy companies use 46% of these to produce evaporated milk, and that before they used only 8%. With this, it has reduced the collection for Peruvian dairy farmers.

The Republic sought a response from Gloria and Nestlé, but the companies indicated that they would not comment on the matter.

The Dairy Committee of the National Society of Industries (SNI), For his part, he assured that the production of national raw milk covers 71% of the national demand. “And if the milk deficit cannot be covered, prices for consumers will increase.”

However, Lozada explained that they would not have to raise prices because “even evaporated milk would have a lower production cost for the industry, since it is cheaper to manufacture evaporated milk really (with the fresh one) than to concentrate with powdered milk”.

He added that facilities will be given to the industry so that it does not have to change the formula used in its products.

National strike of dairy farmers

A total of 11,000 farmers from the north and south of the country mobilized to demand once again the payment of S/ 1.80 per liter of fresh milk, as well as the increase in import tariffs for milk powder.

The demonstrators told this newspaper that they could not leave their list of claims at the regional plants of the collection companies.

Evaporated milk in Peru is part of mass consumption, but it is also used at a culinary level in the preparation of main dishes and desserts.