13416376885?profile=RESIZE_400xHalloumi 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

E-mail me when people leave their comments –

You need to be a member of FoodAuthenticity to add comments!

Join FoodAuthenticity

Comments

  • Cyprus is perhaps unique in that it keeps resisting to "protect" our national cheese due to the number of years that halloumi cheese remained unprotected. Cow milk production has flourished so the protection came very little, very late, unfortunately. Obviously, the taste of a halloumi containing sheep/goat milk compared to a halloumi made of cow milk is completely different (and much better).

This reply was deleted.