The Dairy Products (Hygiene) Regulations 1995

Regulations 9(2), (4)(b) and 13(1)(b)(iv) and (vi)

SCHEDULE 4 REQUIREMENTS FOR DRINKING MILK

PART I RAW MILK FOR DRINKING

1.  Subject to paragraph 2 below, drinking milk which is raw cows' milk shall meet the following standards after wrapping:

Plate count at 30° (per ml)	≤50,000 calculated on the basis of a geometric average over a period of two months, with at least two samples a month.
Staphylococcus aureus (per ml)	n = 5, c = 2, m = 100, M = 500
Salmonella spp	Absence in 25ml, n = 5, c = 0

Pathogenic micro-organisms and their toxins shall not be present in quantities such as to affect the health of the ultimate consumer.

2.  Drinking milk which is—

(a) raw ewes' or goats' milk; or

(b) raw cows' milk which is sold directly to the ultimate consumer by a producer of raw milk,

shall meet the following standards:

Plate count at 30° (per ml)	≤ 20,000
Coliforms (per ml)	< 100

3.  Where raw milk has not passed through a milk collection centre, it shall be transferred from one tank to another under hygienic conditions.

PART II RAW MILK FOR HEAT-TREATMENT

1.—(1) Raw milk, at the time of its acceptance at a treatment establishment, unless treated within 4 hours of acceptance, shall be cooled to a temperature not exceeding 6°C and maintained at that temperature until heat-treated.

(2) Where raw cows' milk is not treated within 36 hours of acceptance at a treatment establishment, a further test shall be carried out on such milk before it is heat-treated. If it is found by means of a direct or indirect method that the plate count of that milk at 30°C exceeds 300,000 per ml, then such milk shall not be used for the production of heat-treated drinking milk.

PART III HEAT-TREATED DRINKING MILK

1.  Heat-treated drinking milk shall not contain—

(a) any pharmacologically active substance in a quantity higher than the limits laid down in Annex I and III of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2377/90(1) as amended(2) nor contain any combination of such substances in excess of a value to be fixed in accordance with that Council Regulation: or

(b) any added water.

2.  In addition to complying with paragraph 1 above, pasteurised milk shall—

(a) have been obtained by means of a heat-treatment involving a high temperature for a short time (at least 71.7°C for 15 seconds or any equivalent combination) or a pasteurisation process using different time and temperature combinations to obtain an equivalent effect;

(b) show a negative reaction to the phosphatase test and a positive reaction to the peroxidase test using the methods of analysis specified in paragraph 2 of Schedule 11 and in the case of high temperature pasteurised milk, show a negative reaction to both tests and be labelled as “high-temperature pasteurised”; and

(c) meet the following microbiological standards in any random sampling checks carried out in the treatment establishment:

Pathogenic micro-organisms	Absence in 25g, n = 5, c = 0
Coliforms (per ml)	n = 5, c = 1, m = 0 M = 5
Plate count at 21° (per ml) after incubation at 6° for five days.	n = 5, c = 1, m = 5 × 104, M = 5 × 105

3.  In addition to complying with paragraph 1 above, sterilised and UHT milk shall, after it has spent fifteen days in a closed container at a temperature of 30°C or where necessary, seven days in a closed container at a temperature of 55°C, meet the following standards—

(a) be organoleptically normal;

(b) not show any sign of deterioration; and

(c) have a plate count at 30°C ≤ 100 per ml.

4.  In addition to complying with paragraphs 1 and 3 above, sterilised milk shall have been heated and sterilised either in a hermetically sealed wrapping or container, the seal of which shall remain intact during such heat-treatment, or by use of the continuous flow process.

5.  In addition to complying with paragraphs 1 and 3 above, UHT milk shall—

(a) be obtained by applying heat to a continuous flow of raw milk entailing the application of a high temperature for a short time (not less that 135°C for not less than a second) so that all residual spoilage micro-organisms and their spores are destroyed, but the chemical, physical and organoleptic changes to the milk are minimal;

(b) be placed immediately after completion of the heat-treatment process in aseptic opaque containers, or containers made opaque by the packaging; and

(c) in cases where it is obtained from a heat-treatment process which employs the direct contact of milk and steam, the steam shall be obtained from potable water. Such steam shall not leave deposits of foreign matter in the milk or affect it adversely. The use of this process shall be so as not to cause any change in the water content of the treated milk.

6.  Pasteurised milk which has been subjected to high-temperature pasteurisation, UHT milk or sterilised milk may be produced from raw milk which has undergone thermisation or an initial heat treatment in another processing or treatment establishment provided that—

(a) the initial treatment shall have had a time-temperature combination which is lower than or equivalent to the pasteurisation process specified in paragraph 2 above;

(b) milk which has undergone the initial treatment shall have shown a positive reaction to the peroxidase test, using the method of analysis specified in paragraph 2 of Schedule 11, before the second heat-treatment; and

(c) such practice is brought to the attention of the approving authority.

7.  Pasteurised milk may be produced from raw milk which has undergone only initial thermisation in accordance with the same conditions specified in paragraph 6 above.

8  The definition of the symbols specified in paragraph 3 of Part II of Schedule 3 shall apply for the purposes of the tables in paragraph 1 of Part I, and paragraph 2 above of this Part.

(1)

OJ No. L224, 18.8.90 p.1.

(2)

Relevant amending instrument is Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2701/94 (OJ No. L287, 8.11.94, p.7) which contains consolidated texts of Annexes I, II, III and IV to Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2377/90.