The Dairy Products (Hygiene) (Scotland) Regulations 1995

Regulations 4(1)(a), (3)(a) and (6) and 9(1)(a)

SCHEDULE 1 CONDITIONS FOR LICENSING OF PRODUCTION HOLDINGS

PART I

A. General conditions for hygiene of production holdings

1.  All animals shall be clean and well-kept. Individual cows in a herd shall be identifiable by an authorised officer.

2.  Production holdings shall have the capability to isolate effectively from the rest of the herd any animals infected, or suspected of being infected, with tuberculosis, brucellosis or any other disease communicable to humans through consumption of milk.

3.  Any creature, including any animal of the species referred to in regulation 2(1) shall be kept away from premises and sites where milk is stored, handled or cooled.

4.  Pigs and poultry shall not be housed in premises where animals are housed or milked.

5.  Access to premises in which animals are housed or milked or any premises on the production holding in which milk is handled, cooled or stored shall be kept free from accumulations of dung, droppings or other offensive matter. Dung channels and droppings on the production holding shall be cleared as regularly as necessary.

6.  Adequate measures shall be taken to control insects, rodents and other vermin on the production holding.

7.  Store-rooms and cleaning rooms and the equipment in such rooms shall be kept clean, tidy and in good condition.

8.  The holding bay for ewes and goats, where it exists, shall be kept in a clean and tidy condition.

B. General conditions of hygiene applicable to staff

1.  The highest standards of cleanliness shall be required at all times of staff and persons engaged in milking and handling of raw milk. In particular they shall—

(a) wear suitable clean working clothes;

(b) wash their hands immediately before commencing milking or handling raw milk and shall keep them clean as far as practicable, throughout the milking or handling operation; and

(c) keep any wounds to the skin covered with a waterproof dressing.

2.  The occupier shall take all requisite measures to prevent persons liable to contaminate raw milk from handling it, unless there is evidence that such persons can do so without risk of contamination.

3.  Before the recruitment of any person for milking or handling raw milk such person shall be required to show that there is no medical impediment to such employment.

PART II CONDITIONS FOR HOUSING OF ANIMALS

1.  The premises housing milking animals shall be designed, sited, constructed, maintained and managed so as to ensure good conditions of housing, hygiene, cleanliness and health of the animals.

2.  The stalls or lying areas shall be kept dry, if necessary by the use of bedding which is regularly changed.

3.  Washing, cleaning and disinfection of the premises housing milking animals or any outhouses attached to such premises shall be carried out in such a way so as to ensure that it does not have an adverse effect on the milk. Any disinfectants used shall be acceptable to the authorised officer.

4.  Where one or more rams or male goats are used for breeding, separate accommodation shall be provided for them so as to avoid contamination with odours.

PART III CONDITIONS FOR MILKING, AND THE HANDLING, COOLING AND STORAGE OF RAW MILK ON THE PRODUCTION HOLDING

A. Structure of the premises

1.  Premises in which animals are milked or in which raw milk is handled, cooled or stored shall—

(a) be designed, sited, constructed, maintained and managed in such a way as to ensure satisfactory hygiene conditions for milking operations and for the handling, cooling and storing of milk and shall provide adequate separation from all sources of contamination, including lavatories and dung heaps;

(b) have walls and flooring in areas liable to soiling or infection, and fittings and equipment, which are easy to clean and disinfect;

(c) have suitable means of waste disposal, including flooring which allows liquids to drain away;

(d) have adequate ventilation and lighting;

(e) have a sufficient supply of potable water for use in milking operations, and for the cleaning of equipment and utensils intended to come into contact with milk;

(f) have suitable facilities near the place of milking to enable milkers and persons handling milk to wash their hands and arms;

(g) in the case of production holdings where milk-producing animals are kept untethered in the open, have a milking parlour, or a milking area for the milking of animals which is adequately separated from the housing area; and

(h) in the case of milk storage premises, have suitable refrigeration equipment, be adequately protected against vermin and be adequately separated from any premises where any animals are housed or milked.

2.  If a processing or treatment establishment is attached to a production holding for ewes and goats, there shall be no direct communication between premises where the ewes and goats are housed or milked, and the processing or treatment establishment.

B. Equipment

1.  Equipment and instruments or their surfaces which are intended to come into contact with milk in premises in which animals are milked or in which milk is handled, cooled or stored shall be made of smooth material which is easy to clean and disinfect, which resists corrosion and which will not transfer substances to milk in such quantities as to endanger human health, impair the composition of milk or adversely affect its organoleptic characteristics.

2.  Equipment, utensils and all their components used for milking shall be kept clean and maintained in good physical condition at all times.

3.  After use, any utensils used for milking, mechanical milking equipment and containers which come into contact with milk shall be cleaned and disinfected and rinsed with potable water which is not liable to cause contamination.

4.  Bulk milk tanks when empty shall be left with an open plug hole or, where appropriate, an open outlet valve.

5.  Where milking is done by hand, the pails containing the milk shall be covered and brought as quickly as possible to the milk storage premises.

C. Open-air milking and moveable milking bails

1.  Where milking is done in the open, the ground where it takes place shall be clean.

2.  Where a moveable milking bail is used, it shall—

(a) have a sufficient supply of potable water for use in milking operations and for the cleaning of equipment, utensils and all their components intended to come into contact with milk;

(b) have fittings and equipment which are easy to wash, clean and disinfect;

(c) be sited on ground which is free of any accumulation of excreta or other waste matter;

(d) provide adequate protection for the milk during the whole period in which the bail is in use;

(e) be so constructed and finished as to permit the interior surfaces to be kept clean.

D. Feedstuffs

1.  Feedstuffs shall not be stored on a production holding where they can have an adverse effect on milk.

PART IV CONDITIONS FOR MILKING AND FILTERING OPERATIONS

1.  Any work including feeding of animals that might have an adverse effect on the milk shall not be carried out immediately before or during the milking.

2.  Before the milking is started the teats, udder, flank, hindquarters and adjacent parts of the abdomen of the animal shall be clean.

3.  At the start of the milking of an individual animal, the milker shall inspect the appearance of the milk. If any physical abnormality in the milk is detected, milk from that animal shall not be allowed to leave the production holding, nor shall it be used for human consumption on that production holding.

4.  Animals with clinical udder diseases shall be milked last, or by a separate machine, or handstripped. Milk from such animals shall not be allowed to leave the production holding, nor shall it be used for human consumption on that production holding.

5.  Teat dips or sprays for lactating animals other than those to which the Marketing Authorisations for Veterinary Medicinal Products Regulations 1994(1) apply shall only be used immediately after milking, unless otherwise permitted by an authorised officer. The components of the teat dips and sprays shall be those acceptable to the authorised officer.

6.  Where the milk is filtered, the filter used shall, depending on the type, be changed or cleansed before its capacity for absorption is exhausted. In any case, the filter shall be changed or cleansed before each milking. Filtering cloths shall not be used for cow’s milk.

(1)

S.I. 1994/3142.