Regulations amending the Regulations governing microbiological standards for foodstuffs and related matters (No. R. 492 of 2002)

STAATSKOERANT, 26 APRIL 2002 No. 23340 17 No. R. 492 26 April 2002 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 regulations in the Schedule. Interested persons are invited to submit any substantiated comments or representations on the proposed regulations to the Director-General of Health, Private Bag X828, Pretoria, 0001 (for the attention of the Director: Food Control), within two 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, as corrected by Government Notice No. R. 1296 of 16 October 1998, as amended by Government Notices Nos. R. 427 of 5 May 2000 and R. 490 of 8 June 2001 and corrected by Government Notice No. R. 491 of 8 June 2001, Amendment of regulation I of the Regulations 2. Regulation 1 of the Regulations is hereby amended by the insertion of the following definitions in the correct alphabetical order: “ ‘honeybush tea’ means the leaves, stems and flowers of the species Cyclopia, prepared by fermenting and drying; ‘rooibos tea’ means the leaves, stems and flowers of the plant Aspalathus linearis prepared by fermenting and drying.“. 18 No. 23340 GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 26 APRIL 2002 Amendment of regulation 8 of the Regulations 3. Regulation 8 of the Regulations is hereby amended by the substitution for paragraph (b) of the following paragraph: ”(b) when tested in accordance with SABS method 221, the total viable colony count shall not exceed 100 colony forming units per milliliter: Provided that such colony count shall be measured within 24 hours after bottling, the water being maintained at 4OC f 3OC during this period and, thereafter, up to and including the point of sale, the total viable colony count shall be no more than that which results from the normal increase in the bacterial content that the water had at source.”. Renumbering of regulation 12 of the Regulations 4. The Regulations are hereby amended by the renumbering of regulation 12 as regulation 14. Insertion of regulations I 2 and 13 in the Regulations 5. The Regulations are hereby amended by the insertion of the following regulations after regulation 1 1 : “12. Rooibos tea at the point of sale shall comply with the following microbiological specifications: (a) For rooibos tea in bulk, the total viable colony count shall not exceed 50 000 colony forming units per gram; (b) for rooibos tea packed in retail packaging, the total viable colony count shall not exceed 100 000 colony forming units per gram; (c) Escherichia coli shall not exceed 20 colony forming units; and (d) Salmonella organisms shall be absent in a sample of 25 grams of the product. STAATSKOERANT, 26 APRIL 2002 No. 23340 19 13. Honeybush tea st the point of sale shall comply with the following microbiological specifications: (b) Escherichia coli shall be absent in a sample of 1 gram of the product; (c) Salmonella organisms shall be absent in a sample of 25 grams of the product; and (d) yeast and moulds shall not exceed 200 colony forming units per gram.”. @ Q l z ? DR M. E. SHABALALA-MSIMANG MINISTER OF HEALTH