Europe cheese production

GRAS listed. Accepted for use as a food additive in Europe. In cheese products, propionates are limited to 0.3% w/w concentration a limit of 0.32% w/w is applied in flour and white bread rolls, while a limit of 0.38% w/w is applied in whole wheat products. 

This mycotoxin resides in contaminated wheat, maze, oats, cheese and meat products. Although ochratoxin can be found everywhere in the world the regions most threatened with contamination of some types of foods are Europe and Africa. 

Feta cheese originates from Greece, where it was originally produced from yew s milk. Today it is an important ingredient of the daily diet in Southeast Europe and the Arabic countries. In these countries the milk production is too low to sustain a level of self-sufficiency with this type of cheese. Consequently several North European countries, among them Denmark, have started a comprehensive production of Feta cheese for export purposes. 

The most important source of phthalates is food intake, but data on contamination of food are very limited. Generally, food contamination by phthalates may be in the range of hundredths up to units of mg/kg, with occasional extreme values primarily in fatty foods, such as cheeses, cakes and sandwiches that may readily contain phthalates in amount of tenths of mg/kg food. The occurrence of phthalates in food may be the result of contamination of raw materials, intermediates or finished products. In Europe, the estimated average maximum exposure to bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate from packaging is estimated at 0.02 mg per person per day, and exposure to all phthalates (expressed as dimethyl phthalate) is estimated to be 4.37 mg per person per day. Daily intake of bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate from food in the Netherlands is estimated at 0.5-0.8 mg, 2 mg in Japan and 0.25 mg in the United States (the total intake from food, water and air is about 0.27 mg). 

Milk and milk products. In the United States, Canada, and some other countries, cows provide most of the milk. But in southern Europe and the Middle East, the goat furnishes much milk. In Asia, sheep are often milked. People in India drink buffalo milk, and Eaplanders enjoy reindeer milk. The yak furnishes milk in Tibet, the Arab herdsmen milk camels, and mares are milked for human food in different parts of the world. Erom milk, countless forms of cheese have been developed in many countries. 

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