Requirements for manufacturing yoghurt, ice cream, cheese, liquid milk, and raw milk products

Find out about the requirements for manufacturing yoghurt, ice cream, cheese and liquid milk, and get access to MPI guidance.

The requirements you need to meet and the programme you choose will depend on whether your products are intended for sale only in New Zealand or Australia, or you want to export them to other markets.

Find out if you should operate under a Food Control Plan (FCP) or a risk management programme (RMP):

Introduction to manufacturing 

Yoghurt

If you want to manufacture yoghurt, there are different requirements you need to meet, depending on whether you operate under an FCP or an RMP.

You can tailor an RMP to your operation, but using a template can be an efficient way to ensure you meet all of the requirements:

Ice cream

When preparing your RMP for manufacturing ice cream, you can use a code of practice (COP), which sets out how to meet your food safety requirements. This has been developed in co-operation with the dairy industry and is available on the Ice Cream Manufacturers Association website:

Using a template helps to ensure that your RMP covers all the necessary requirements, and can be a more efficient option than developing an RMP from scratch:

Cheeses

Using a template can be an efficient way to ensure you meet your food safety requirements:

If you manufacture specialist cheeses, there's an interim COP available to members of the Specialist Cheesemakers Association. The COP provides guidance and information about developing an RMP.

Find out how to join the association:

New Zealand Specialist Cheesemakers Association

Liquid milk

If you manufacture liquid milk products for sale in New Zealand and Australia, then you can use this template to develop your RMP:

Infant formula 

If you manufacture infant formula products, there are extra requirements you need to meet. Find out what your operation needs:

Animal Products Notice: Manufacture of dairy-based infant formula products and formulated supplementary foods for young children [PDF, 523 KB]

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