CELEX: 
Language: en
Date: 2017-05-10
Title: COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) …/… amending Regulation (EC) N° 853/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards heat treatment of dairy products

COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) …/…
            
            
               of XXX
            
            
               amending Regulation (EC) N° 853/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards heat treatment of dairy products
            
            
               (Text with EEA relevance)
            
            
               THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
            
            
               Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
            
            
               Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 laying down specific hygiene rules for food of animal origin
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               , and in particular Article 10 (1) (d) thereof,
            
            
               Whereas:
            
            
               (1)Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 lays down specific rules on the hygiene of food of animal origin for food business operators. In particular, it sets out in Part II of Chapter II of Section IX of Annex III the specific requirements for heat treatment in order to ensure the appropriate application of the pasteurisation process to raw milk, colostrum, dairy products and colostrum based products and its effectiveness.
            
            
               (2)The Commission asked the European Union Reference Laboratory for milk and milk products in its 2008 work programme to carry out the necessary scientific research in order to set a limit at Union level for alkaline phosphatase activity in cows’ cheese to ensure that cows' milk used in cheese is properly pasteurised.
            
            
               (3)The EN ISO 11816-2:2016 standard
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                sets out a fluorimetric method for the determination of alkaline phosphatase activity in cheese. The survey organised by the European Union Reference Laboratory for milk and milk products and carried out by National Reference Laboratories on cows’ milk cheeses produced in the Member States had a positive outcome in demonstrating that 94% of cows’ cheese samples showed that the alkaline phosphatase activity was less than 10mU/g. It is therefore appropriate to require that the EN ISO 11816-2:2016 standard is used as the Union reference method for the control of cows’ cheese made from adequately pasteurised milk. It is also appropriate to set the limit at Union level for the alkaline phosphatase activity at 10mU/g for cows’ cheese made with pasteurised cows' milk. 
            
            
               (4)Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 should therefore be amended accordingly.
            
            
               (5)The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed,
            
            
               HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
            
            
               Article 1
            
            
               Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 is amended in accordance with the Annex to this Regulation.
            
            
               Article 2
            
            
               This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
            
            
               This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
            
         
         
            
               Done at Brussels,
            
            
               
                     For the Commission
               
               
                     The President
               
               
                     Jean-Claude JUNCKER
               
            
         
         
            
                  
                     (1)
                  OJ L 139, 30.4.2004, p. 55. 
               
               
                  
                     (2)
                  Milk and milk products: Determination of alkaline phosphatase activity -- Part 2: Fluorimetric method for cheese (2016).
               
            
      
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               ANNEX
            
            
               In Part II of Chapter II of Section IX of Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 853/2004, the following points 3 and 4 are added:
            
            
               '3.Food business operators must ensure that the alkaline phosphatase activity in cheese made from pasteurised cows' milk is not higher than 10 mU/g.
            
            
               4.Some pasteurised smear ripened cows’ cheese[s] may exceed the limit of 10 mU/g set in point 3 provided that the food business operator demonstrates that the milk pasteurisation was carried out in accordance with point1 (a) above and that the 10 mU/g limit cannot be met due to the characteristics of cheese processing.'