Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999

Colony count and organoleptic defects

8.—(1) No person shall bottle any natural mineral water the revivable total colony count of which, determined under the conditions laid down in paragraph 1.3.3 of Section II of Annex 1—

(a) does not conform to the normal viable colony count of that water; or

(b) shows that the source of that water is contaminated.

(2) No person shall bottle or sell any natural mineral water which contains any of the organisms or substances referred to in Article 5.2.

(3) No person shall sell any bottled natural mineral water—

(a) which was bottled in contravention of paragraph (1);

(b) the total colony count of which fails, or has failed, to comply with the limits specified in paragraph (4)(a);

(c) in respect of which the requirement in paragraph (4)(b) has not been met; or

(d) if—

(i) its revivable total colony count is in excess of that which would result from the normal increase in the bacteria content which it had at source; or

(ii) it contains any organoleptic defect.

(4) For the period of 12 hours following bottling—

(a) the total colony count of water at source shall not exceed—

(i) 100 per ml at 20° to 22°C in 72 hours on agar-agar or an agar-gelatine mixture; and

(ii) 20 per ml at 37°C in 24 hours on agar-agar; and

(b) water shall be maintained at a temperature of 4°C +/−1°C.

(5) Where it is found during exploitation that natural mineral water is polluted and the bottling or sale, as appropriate, of the water would be in contravention of paragraph (1), (2) or (3) the spring from which the water is extracted shall not be exploited nor shall the water be bottled until the cause of the pollution is eradicated and the bottling and sale of the water does not contravene paragraph (1), (2) or (3).