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Adulteration of Halloumi cheese using skim milk powder is a known risk in Cyprus.  The fraudsters adjust the composition to comply with PDO specifications for moisture, fat and salt content.

In this paper (open access) the authors prepared reference samples of authentic Halloumi (from a local artisan producer) and their own “PDO-specification” adulterated samples with 1% and 5% skim milk powder inclusion

They tested these reference samples using Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) – a measurement of the specific surface area - and Fourier-Transform Infra-Red Spectroscopy (FT-IR).  Principal component analysis (PCA) was employed to visualize and interpret the spectral data. The specific surface area from BET measurements and the FTIR spectral subregion between 1650 and 1100 cm⁻¹ were key factors, and they were retained for model construction.

The authors plan to build on these initial results by including a wider range of milks and cheeses in the model, and by model validation.  They have published at this early stage because they believe this is the first time BET has been applied or shown promise in contributing to such a multi-variate classification model.

Halloumi produced in Cyprus has a transitional exception until 2029 from the EU PDO regulations which stipulate that >50% of the milk content must be from sheep or goats.  This is because of the relatively low sheep/goat milk production on the island.  However, national Cypriot law still stipulates that the sheep/goat milk content must be >19% during this transition.  Major dairy companies on Cyprus have lobbied against this transitional law, arguing that it is unachievable without large scale import of sheep/goat milk powder.

It has been reported that a 2024 survey of one of the largest halloumi brands on sale in Cyprus found sheep/goat milk content at only 5%.  The same newspaper also reports that the regulators are working with Bureau Veritas on building a reference database of compositional parameters, to address longstanding analytical challenges in verifying the sheep/goat milk content of imported milk powder.

Photo by Ambitious Studio* | Rick Barrett on Unsplash