CDFA Helps Ensure California Cheese Standards
The CDFA's Milk & Dairy Food Safety Branch helps ensure California cheesemakers are held to the highest standards to produce a quality product for consumers worldwide. (0:31)
California Milk Standards
California has different bacteriologial and nutritional standards for the milk produced and processed in California. They include:
Bacteriological Standards
| STANDARD |
FEDERAL |
CALIFORNIA |
|
|---|---|---|---|
Grade "A" Raw Milk for Pasteurization |
Bacterial (Standard Plate Count) Limits |
Not to exceed 100,000 per ml |
Not to exceed 50,000 per ml |
Somatic Cell Count |
Not to exceed 750,000 per ml |
Not to exceed 600,000 per ml |
|
Coliform |
No Standard |
Not to exceed 750 per ml |
|
Laboratory Pasteurized Count |
No Standard |
Not to exceed 750 per ml |
|
Grade "A" Pasteurized Milk |
Standard Plate Count |
Maximum 20,000 per ml |
Maximum 15,000 per ml |
| Coliform |
Maximum 10 per ml |
Maximum 10 per ml |
Compositional Standards
| STANDARD |
FEDERAL |
CALIFORNIA |
|
|---|---|---|---|
Grade A Pasteurized Milk |
Milkfat Minimum |
3.25% |
3.5% * |
Milk Solids-Not-Fat (SNF), minimum |
8.25% |
8.7% * |
|
Total Milk Solids |
No Standard |
12.2% Minimum |
|
Grade A Reduced Fat Milk |
Milkfat |
Maximum 2.1% |
Maximum 2.1% |
| SNF, minimum |
8.25% |
10.0% |
|
Grade A Lowfat Milk |
Milkfat |
Maximum 1.2% |
Maximum 1.1% |
SNF, minimum |
8.25% |
11.0% |
|
Grade A Nonfat Milk |
Milkfat, maximum |
0.20% |
0.20% |
SNF, minimum |
8.25% |
9.0% |
While our standards may be stricter than the federal standards, this is not meant to imply the federal standards allow for unsafe milk.
* The minimum % of Milkfat and Milk Solids Not Fat required may vary by no more than 0.1%, provided the total combined % of milkfat and SNF ≥ minimum required % TS (12.2).
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