From: Dryer, Greg [GDryer@saputo.com] Sent: Wednesday, December 28, 2005 9:55 AM To: Dockets, FDA Subject: Dockets 2003P-0132 and 2000P-1491 Comments on Petition to Amend the Standards for Parmesan and Reggiano Cheese by reducing the minimum curing time from ten months to six months: Saputo Cheese USA Inc. operates 14 plants in the US and sells approximately 20 million pounds of Parmesan cheese per year. We oppose the Petition to Amend the Standards for Parmesan and Reggiano Cheese by reducing the minimum curing time from ten months to six months. While we do not dispute that consumers may have grown to accept a six month old dehydrated product which may have been subjected to an accelerated aging process, we are not convinced that their acceptance results from technological improvements or rather from an impairment of their ability to differentiate. In recent years, we believe consumers have been exposed to a proliferation of parmesan impersonators which do not conform to the standard. Assuming for the moment however, that consumers are accepting of the six month dehydrated product, there is currently only one standard for Parmesan cheese whether it be dehydrated or non-dehydrated. We believe there is, and has been a growing market for non-dehydrated Parmesan because of its better flavor and assurance of product integrity. For the 52 weeks ended November 6, 2005, IRI total U.S. data reflects 4.2% year over year volume growth in refrigerated Parmesan opposed to 0.8% for shelf stable or dry grated Parmesan. Refrigerated Parmesan represents approximately 48% of the Retail Parmesan Category. In our opinion, there is little or no evidence to suggest that the short lived product compares in quality to the standard ten month aged product when it is sold in the form of wheels or wedges, fresh grated, shredded, or shaved. The traditional product continues to get better with age. Has testing been conducted to determine how the accelerated product flavor behaves beyond ten months of age in a non-dehydrated form? If there were a separate standard for just the dehydrated product, we might be convinced to agree with the petition. We stipulate to Kraft’s assertion of a substantial economic benefit but disagree that consumers benefit from increased competition when that competition results from the lowering of product standards while retaining the traditional product’s identity. Changing the product without changing its identification causes confusion among consumers regarding what they are actually receiving. One could argue that “butter” made with part vegetable oil would benefit consumers because it would lead to increased competition in the market and prices would trend lower. Consumers willing to pay for the traditional product however, would be confronted with the challenge of identifying which product was which when they both carry the same name. If a cheaper product is desired, the option exists today to make and sell a “hard grating or grated cheese” without demeaning the Parmesan identity. Finally, we have serious concerns that by failing to defend even the current CFR standard for Parmesan, we will give credence to arguments by the Europeans that the U.S. product is inferior and not worthy of carrying the geographically indicated name which enjoys such a long lived tradition of quality and integrity. R. Gregory Dryer Executive Vice President Administration and Services Saputo Saputo Cheese USA Inc. 25 Tri-State International Office Center Suite 259 Lincolnshire, IL 60069 Tel: 847.267.3380/ Fax: 847.267.0618 / Cell: 847.219.6439 gdryer@saputo.com www.saputo.com Confidentiality Notice This communication may contain privileged or confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient or received this communication by error, please notify the sender and delete the message without copying or disclosing it.