Description. (1) Gruyere cheese is the food prepared by the procedure set forth in paragraph (a)(3) of this section or by any other procedure which produces a finished cheese having the same physical and chemical properties. It contains small holes or eyes. It has a mild flavor, due in part to the growth of surface-curing agents. The minimum milkfat content is 45 percent by weight of the solids and the maximum moisture content is 39 percent by weight, as determined by the methods described in § 133.5. The dairy ingredients used may be pasteurized. The cheese is at least 90 days old.

If pasteurized dairy ingredients are used, the phenol equivalent value of 0.25 gram of gruyere cheese is not more than 3 micrograms as determined by the method described in § 133.5.

One or more of the dairy ingredients specified in paragraph (b)(1) of this section may be warmed and is subjected to the action of lactic acid-producing and propionic acid-producing bacterial cultures. One or more of the clotting enzymes specified in paragraph (b)(2) of this section is added to set the dairy ingredients to a semisolid mass. The mass is cut into particles similar in size to wheat kernels. For about 30 minutes the particles are alternately stirred and allowed to settle. The temperature is raised to about 126 °F. Stirring is continued until the curd becomes firm. The curd is transferred to hoops or forms, and pressed until the desired shape and firmness are obtained. The cheese is surface-salted while held at a temperature of 48° to 54 °F for a few days. It is soaked for 1 day in a saturated salt solution. It is then held for 3 weeks in a salting cellar and wiped every 2 days with brine cloth to insure growth of biological curing agents on the rind. It is then removed to a heating room and held at progressively higher temperatures, finally reaching 65 °F with a relative humidity of 85 to 90 percent, for several weeks, during which time small holes, or so-called eyes, form. The cheese is then stored at a lower temperature for further curing. One or more of the other optional ingredients specified in paragraph (b)(3) of this section may be added during the procedure.

Optional ingredients. The following safe and suitable ingredients may be used:

Dairy ingredients. Milk, nonfat milk, or cream, as defined in § 133.3, used alone or in combination.

Clotting enzymes. Rennet and/or other clotting enzymes of animal, plant, or microbial origin.

Other optional ingredients. (i) Calcium chloride in an amount not more than 0.02 percent (calculated as anhydrous calcium chloride) of the weight of the dairy ingredients, used as a coagulation aid.

Enzymes of animal, plant, or microbial origin, used in curing or flavor development.

Antimycotic agents, applied to the surface of slices or cuts in consumer-sized packages.

Nomenclature. The name of the food is “gruyere cheese”.

Label declaration. Each of the ingredients used in the food shall be declared on the label as required by the applicable sections of parts 101 and 130 of this chapter, except that:

Enzymes of animal, plant, or microbial origin may be declared as “enzymes”; and

The dairy ingredients may be declared, in descending order of predominance, by the use of the terms “milkfat and nonfat milk” or “nonfat milk and milkfat”, as appropriate.