Government Gazette

Vol. 403, No. 19672, 15 January 1999

Regulation Gazette, No. 6406

No. R. 45

GOVERNMENT NOTICE

FOODSTUFFS, COSMETICS AND DISINFECTANTS ACT, 1972 (ACT No. 54 OF 1972)

REGULATIONS GOVERNING MICROBIOLOGICAL STANDARDS FOR FOODSTUFFS AND RELATED MATTERS: AMENDMENT

The Minister of Health intends, in terms of section 15 (1) of the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act, 1972 (Act No. 54 of 1972), to make the regulations in the Schedule.

Interested persons are invited to submit any substantiated comments on the proposed regulations or representations they wish to make in regard thereto to the Director-General of Health, Private Bag X828, Pretoria, 0001 (for the attention of the Director: Food Control), within three months of the date of publication of this notice.

SCHEDULE

  1. In these regulations "the Regulations" means the regulations published under Government Notice No. R. 692 of 16 May 1997.

Amendment of regulation 1 of the Regulations

  1. Regulation 1 of the Regulations is hereby amended by the insertion in the correct alphabetical position of the following definitions:

" 'Edible ices' means the sweetened product obtained either from an emulsion of fat and protein with the addition of other ingredients and substances or from a mixture of water, sugars and other ingredients and substances which have been treated by freezing and are intended for storage, sale and human consumption in the frozen or partially frozen state;

'egg product' means the product from the contents of an egg of the species Gallus domesticus: Provided that such an egg, the yolk thereof, the albumen thereof or a mixture of the yolk and albumen of such an egg in liquid, frozen or dried form has not been subjected to an incubation process;'.

Renumbering of regulation 11 of the Regulations

  1. The Regulations are hereby amended by the renumbering of regulation 11 as regulation 12.

Insertion of regulation 11 in the Regulations

  1. The Regulations are hereby amended by the insertion of the following regulation after regulation 10:

"11. An egg product after pasteurisation or irradiation shall comply with the following microbiological specifications:

  1. Salmonella organisms shall be absent in 25 ml or 9 of an egg product;
  2. Staphylococcus aureus shall be absent in 1 ml or 9 of an egg product;
  3. mesophilic aerobic bacteria shall not exceed 20 000 colony forming units per gram or millilitre;
  4. coliforms shall not exceed 50 per gram or millilitre of an egg product;
  5. yeast and moulds shall not exceed 200 per gram or millilitre of an egg product.".

Amendment of Annex A of the Regulations

  1. Annex A of the Regulations is hereby amended by—
  1. the substitution for the expression "SABS Method 758" in column 2 of the expression "SABS Method 758**"; and
  2. the insertion of the following footnote after the footnote "Microbiology—General guidelines for enumeration of Bacillus cereus colony count techniques at 30oC.";

"** Use the MPN technique for the enumeration of Escherichia coli using the media described by this method.".

N. C. DLAMINI ZUMA
Minister of Health