PITTSFIELD – Milk Protein Concentrate is easily and frequently found in common products on Maine’s grocery shelves.

Pick up a box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, or a can of Boost, an energy drink. Try a box of Sunshine Cheez-It Cheese Sandwiches or a Louis Rich Cheese Frank. Oscar Meyer Lunchables, Ruffles Ranch Dip, Velveeta, Slim-Fast Milk Chocolate diet powder – all list MPC on their label.

The Dairy Trade Coalition describes MPC as skim milk that has been concentrated by ultra-filtration to retain most of the protein while removing much of the water and some of the lactose, ash and other solids. For some applications, it is used as a liquid and called ultra-filtered milk. For others, it is dried for use as a powder and then called MPC. The liquid and dry forms are identical in composition.

There is no standard legal definition of MPC; protein levels in it range from 42 percent to 85 percent.

MPC is used as an ingredient in prepared foods such as infant formula, desserts, baked goods, toppings, and some processed cheese products and foods. MPC is not allowed as an ingredient in cheese with a federal standard of identity, such as cheddar. The use of MPC as an ingredient in cheese without an FSI, such as ricotta or brie, is not limited by any FDA regulations.

MPC is not made in the United States, although a plant is currently under construction in New Mexico in partnership with a New Zealand dairy industry, because it is more economically beneficial to create skim milk powder under the U.S. dairy support program. Additionally, prices of imported MPC are kept low due to governmental subsidies in the countries of origin.

Peter Hardin, the editor of The Milkweed, a national dairy marketing report, maintains that many ways MPC is used violate Food and Drug Administration regulations. “Kraft Singles are described as pasteurized process cheese food, which has a specific standard of identity,” Hardin said, citing an example. “[The US Food and Drug Administration] does not include MPC as an ingredient for pasteurized process cheese food. FDA rules specify that any food marketed under standards of identity may not contain unapproved ingredients, or else they are both adulterated and mislabeled.”

Hardin has started a boycott of all human foods containing MPC, which has gathered national support by consumers aware of the dairy industry crisis.

He is especially targeting Kraft, North America’s largest branded food company with third-quarter earnings of $869 million. Kraft is one of the country’s largest users of MPC in its prepared products.

“MPC comes to the U.S. from nations where dairy sanitation is sub-par or where radioactive contamination from the Chernobyl nuclear accident site is potentially problematic to human health,” Hardin said.

Hardin maintains, “MPC, very simply, is not an approved food ingredient under FDA rules. FDA’s failure to enforce food safety standards against Kraft Foods is killing U.S. dairy farmers. Imports of MPC are just a part of a bigger tidal wave of imports breaking prices for both dairy commodities and farm milk.”

Kraft Foods Inc., in a prepared statement Thursday, rebutted Hardin’s claims. “MPC is absolutely safe for use in food. The safety of our products and integrity of our brands is a top priority at Kraft Foods. [MPC] is simply filtered milk and there are no known health or safety issues associated with milk, MPC or any other milk ingredient,” wrote Kris Charles, a Kraft spokesperson. Charles also said that once MPC is able to be produced in the United States, Kraft will use that source, despite the price differential between domestic and imported products.

The controversy surrounding MPC, however, will also prompt a change in the labels on Kraft foods. “Sine we had already planned to change the label to reflect additional calcium,” wrote Charles, “we are also taking this opportunity to update the label with a new generic description ‘pasteurized prepared cheese product.’ This labeling change is consistent with recent statements from the FDA clarifying its position on the use of [MPC] in standardized cheese products.”

The label change will take place in January 2003 and was prompted by an enforcement action by FDA against a Wisconsin cheese manufacturer.

Hardin said that small cheese manufacturers using MPC have been found noncompliant while Kraft has never been cited. “The bottom line is that FDA has taken no action because Kraft knows the handshake,” he said.

George Pauli, assistant director for science and policy at the FDA, said Friday afternoon that the FDA does not make official comments on MPC.

He confirmed, however, that imported MPC “has no approval process and is not tested.”

“The question is, is there any reason to test? We have seen no safety data to indicate we should target MPC for testing,” he said. “It is generally recognized as safe by qualified experts but the FDA does not have an official position.”

Pauli added, “However, if MPC was contaminated with something harmful, it would be illegal.” He confirmed that since no testing of imported MPC is federally required, “We wouldn’t know if it was imported from an unsafe source.”