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.
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