🍎 Recommended methods for sensory evaluation of milk and milk products by a trained panel — responsibilities and requirements of the panel leader, preparation of the session (samples coded with three-digit random numbers, booths, palate cleansers), test room (lighting 6500 K, 800–1500 lx, constant temperature, no foreign odours) and for each product sampling and sample preparation, evaluation temperature (butter and cheese 14 ± 2 °C, milk reconstituted from powder 22 ± 2 °C) and attributes assessed: appearance, odour and flavour, consistency; for use with the scoring method (Part 3), profiling and discrimination tests, PN-ISO 22935-2

Food chemistry PN-ISO 22935-2

Overview

WHAT THE STANDARD COVERS. We read the text of the standard in the iTeh sample of ISO 22935-2:2009 | IDF 99-2:2009 (English text): title page, contents, ISO and IDF forewords, introduction, Clauses 1–9 and Clause 10 up to 10.2 (cheese — sampling and preparation) — the sample ends on page 6. Parts of sentences are missing (e.g. 4.2 b), 7 g) and the numerator of the formula for the test portion mass in 9.2). We do not read Clauses 11–14 (liquid milk, cream, fermented milk products, ice cream) or Annex A with the attribute tables; we know the titles from the contents. The second iTeh sample — SIST ISO 22935-2:2024, i.e. ISO 22935-2:2023 | IDF 99-2:2023 — we read up to 5.1 (page 1): title page, contents, forewords, introduction, Clauses 1–4.

ACCORDING TO THE TEXT OF ISO 22935-2:2009. The document was prepared by ISO/TC 34 “Food products”, Subcommittee SC 5 “Milk and milk products”, jointly with the International Dairy Federation (IDF); together with Parts 1 and 3 it replaces IDF 99C:1997. The series ISO 22935 | IDF 99 “Milk and milk products — Sensory analysis” has three parts: 1 — guidance on recruitment, selection, training and monitoring of assessors; 2 — recommended methods for sensory evaluation; 3 — guidance on evaluating compliance of sensory properties with product specifications by scoring. Introduction: the series gives methodological guidance and a common nomenclature; for other methods see ISO 6658; the series does not cover evaluation of labelling and packaging. Contents: 4 Supervision, 5 Preparing for a panel, 6 Documents, 7 Test room, 8–14 recommended methods for butter, milk powder, cheese, liquid milk, cream, fermented milk products and ice cream, Annex A (normative) “International tables of common attributes”. Scope (1): recommended methods for sensory evaluation of specific milk products — criteria for sampling and preparation of samples and for assessment; for use with the methods of Part 1 and other ISO or IDF methods; Annex A gives English and French terms (official) and, for information, German and Spanish ones. References (2): ISO 707 | IDF 50 (sampling), ISO 8589 (design of test rooms), ISO 22935-3 | IDF 99-3. Principle (3): general practices for sensory evaluation of dairy products by trained evaluators, for use with the scoring method of Part 3, profiling and discrimination tests. Supervision (4): a panel leader familiar with sensory evaluation of the products is responsible for the whole evaluation — appropriate conditions, correct forms and protocols, monitoring of panel results, records (attendance, panel performance, session objectives, samples and their preparation, forms, results, comments, attribute definitions and references) and communication with management; the leader should understand sensory evaluation principles and be committed to a sensory quality assurance programme. Preparing for a panel (5): inviting assessors, choosing and preparing samples by standard procedures, coding samples with three-digit random numbers (from a table or program), evaluation in booths or another suitable environment with pens, palate cleansers and spittoons, checking data completeness. Documents (6): recommended methods, product attributes and definitions, product specifications, food safety documentation. Test room (7): details in ISO 8589; walls and ceilings light and matt (off-white or light neutral grey); dividers between places; tabletops and dividers matt light neutral grey; lighting without strong shadows, colour temperature 6500 K, constant and uniform intensity 800–1500 lx; constant temperature; no foreign odours; sample preparation area sheltered from assessors; regular monitoring of equipment and conditions. Butter (8): the method applies to butter and can be adapted to anhydrous milk fat, milk fat and butter oil; preparation by accepted methods unless the customer requires another; from bulk butter a sample with a trier (ISO 707), from retail packaging an adequate number of packages; before evaluation the temperature stated on the package, by the customer or by legislation, during evaluation 14 ± 2 °C — a temperature outside this range prevents a reliable evaluation; equipment: trier, incubator or chiller, thermometer, stainless steel knives or cutting wire, spatulas, indicator paper for water, palate cleansers (e.g. water at 30–40 °C); assessment: appearance (colour, visible purity, mould growth, water dispersion), odour and flavour, consistency (firmness, spreadability) — a loose grainy structure (under-working) or a salve-like one (over-working) relates to both appearance and consistency; attributes — in Tables A.1–A.3, for scoring or profiling. Milk powder (9): from bulk powder at least 250 g; the test portion is dissolved in 90 g of microbiologically pure, filtered, sensorially neutral water at 22 ± 2 °C (whole milk powder not claimed to be cold-soluble — at 40 ± 2 °C), mixing with an electric mixer, all portions at the same speed and for the same time; the test portion mass depends on the fat content of the powder (a formula with the denominator 100 − wf, the numerator lies outside the readable text of the sample); glasses with reconstituted milk and the remaining powder are covered, the milk protected from light, cooled if necessary with frequent gentle stirring and evaluated within 1 h, at 22 ± 2 °C; assessment of reconstituted milk and powder: appearance (colour, visible purity, lumps, flakes, hard granules), odour and flavour, consistency (particles in the mouth, thickness). Cheese (10, up to 10.2): from large cheeses a sample with a trier or a cut sector; before evaluation the temperature stated on the package or in legislation and specifications, during evaluation 14 ± 2 °C, for special cheeses other temperatures with a tolerance of ± 2 °C.

ACCORDING TO THE TEXT OF ISO 22935-2:2023 (up to 5.1). The second edition of April 2023, with the title of Part 2 changed to “Methods for sensory evaluation”, replaces ISO 22935-2 | IDF 99-2:2009, technically revised. Main changes according to the foreword: changes in the international tables of common attributes (Annex A — now informative) and widening of the scope from milk powder to milk-based powders and from liquid milk to milk-based liquids. The new edition has no normative references or definitions; the principle (4) is unchanged; the sentence excluding labelling and packaging has disappeared from the introduction; numbering has shifted by one (e.g. butter — Clause 9, ice cream — 15, with a new subclause “Melting properties” for ice cream).

STATUS (as of 03.10.2026). In the PKN search (query “22935-2”, 03.10.2026) the only result is PN-ISO 22935-2:2013-07 (Polish version, “Wprowadza: ISO 22935-2:2009 [IDT]”), with no withdrawal note. Card: publication date 26.07.2013, 28 pages, KT 35 Mleka i Przetworów Mlecznych, ICS 67.100.01, no withdrawal note. In the iTeh catalogue (read 03.10.2026) ISO 22935-2:2009 has the status “Withdrawn”, stage 95.99 (withdrawal of International Standard), and as the document that revised it the card gives ISO 22935-2:2023 “Milk and milk products — Sensory analysis — Part 2: Methods for sensory evaluation”; card of ISO 22935-2:2023 — status “Published”, stage 60.60, publication 12.04.2023. There is no standard introducing ISO 22935-2:2023 in the PKN search (03.10.2026). PN-ISO 22935-3:2013-07 (Polish version, introduces ISO 22935-3:2009) — card: publication 24.07.2013, KT 35, no withdrawal note (03.10.2026).

HOW MANY LABORATORIES AND IN WHAT FORM (copy of the accreditation scope database, data up to 17.09.2026, read 03.10.2026). The number 22935-2 appears in 4 records at 4 laboratories: AB 433, AB 492, AB 532, AB 1334. In the current PCA documents (read 03.10.2026; AB 1334 issue no. 31 of 04.05.2026, AB 492 issue no. 27 of 29.05.2026, AB 433 issue no. 26 of 11.06.2026, AB 532 issue no. 24 of 03.07.2026) the number appears in 4 lines at the same 4 laboratories; in each document the number of page markers equals the number of PDF pages, without repetitions; a search of all PCA documents downloaded from the BIP on 03.10.2026 found no laboratories outside the database copy. The form is always “PN-ISO 22935-2:2013-07”, at AB 433 together with PN-ISO 22935-3:2013-07. None of these items is suspended. The “Laboratories” tab (query “PN-ISO 22935-2”) shows all 4 laboratories — checked by a tab query on the labcoda.pl production server on 03.10.2026.

WHAT THE LABORATORIES TEST (items in PCA). Object: milk and milk products (AB 1334), milk and milk products (AB 492), milk and milk products — milk, fermented milk products, butter, cream (AB 532), butter (AB 433). Attributes: appearance, odour, taste, consistency/texture (AB 1334); appearance, colour, taste, odour (AB 492); appearance, colour, flavour, odour, consistency (AB 532); appearance, consistency, taste and odour, range (1.0–5.0) points (AB 433). Technique: simple descriptive test (AB 492, AB 532, AB 1334), scoring method (AB 433).

WHERE A SEEMINGLY CORRECT RESULT IS EASY TO GET. Status: PN-ISO 22935-2:2013 carries no withdrawal note in PKN, but ISO 22935-2:2009, which it introduces, has been withdrawn since 2023 and replaced by an edition with changed attribute tables and a wider scope — the PKN card does not show this. Method: the standard gives evaluation conditions, not a scale — points (AB 433, 1.0–5.0 points) come from the method of Part 3, which AB 433 cites together with Part 2, and the “simple descriptive test” (AB 492, AB 532, AB 1334) is not described in the part of the sample we read. Temperature: butter and cheese are evaluated at 14 ± 2 °C, and a temperature outside this range prevents a reliable evaluation of butter (8.2, 10.2); milk reconstituted from powder at 22 ± 2 °C and within 1 h (9.2). Coding: samples are labelled with three-digit random numbers to disguise their origin (5 c). Room: lighting 6500 K, 800–1500 lx, no foreign odours (7); details — ISO 8589.

WHAT WE DO NOT GIVE. Methods for liquid milk, cream, fermented milk products and ice cream, the full cheese clause or the attribute tables of Annex A are not quoted — they lie outside the sample. We have not read the content of the scoring method of PN-ISO 22935-3.

Method principle

Evaluation is carried out by a trained panel under the supervision of a leader, in a room with light matt surfaces, lighting of 6500 K and 800–1500 lx, without foreign odours; samples are coded with three-digit random numbers. For each product the standard gives the method of sampling and sample preparation, the evaluation temperature (e.g. butter and cheese 14 ± 2 °C, milk reconstituted from powder 22 ± 2 °C) and the attributes assessed — appearance, odour and flavour, consistency — described with terms from the international attribute tables; the result is expressed by the scoring method (Part 3), profiling or discrimination tests.

Applications

• Sensory evaluation of butter (also milk fat and butter oil), milk powder, cheese, liquid milk, cream, fermented milk products and ice cream (8–14)
• Basis for sample preparation for the scoring method of PN-ISO 22935-3 and for profiling (3)
• Milk and milk products, butter, cream — items in the accreditation scopes of 4 laboratories in PCA (simple descriptive test or scoring method)

Key parameters

Standard

Standard number

PN-ISO 22935-2:2013-07

Title (PL)

Mleko i przetwory mleczne — Analiza sensoryczna — Część 2: Zalecane metody oceny sensorycznej

Title (EN)

Milk and milk products — Sensory analysis — Part 2: Recommended methods for sensory evaluation

Step-by-step procedure

1. Organization

   Panel leader, documents (methods, attributes, specifications), room according to ISO 8589 (4, 6, 7). PN-ISO 22935-2:2013-07 with no withdrawal note in PKN; ISO 22935-2:2009 withdrawn (03.10.2026).

2. Session preparation

   Choice and preparation of samples, random three-digit codes, places with palate cleansers (5).

3. Sample

   Sampling according to ISO 707 and bringing to evaluation temperature: butter and cheese 14 ± 2 °C, reconstituted milk 22 ± 2 °C (8.2, 9.2, 10.2).

4. Assessment

   Appearance, odour and flavour, consistency — attributes from the tables of Annex A (8.4, 9.4).

5. Result

   By the scoring method (Part 3), profiling or discrimination test; check of data completeness (3, 5 e).

Required equipment and apparatus

Reagents, media and consumables

Health and safety (OHS)

• Tasting — only samples fit for consumption; food safety documentation available during evaluation (6 d)
• Knives and wires for cutting butter and cheese — careful handling

Frequently asked questions