Updates

Commission Regulation (EU) 2019/229 of 7 February 2019 amending Regulation (EC) No Regulation (EU) 2073/2005 on microbiological criteria for foodstuffs as regards certain methods, the food safety criterion for Listeria monocytogenes in sprouted seeds, and the process hygiene criterion and food safety criterion for unpasteurised fruit and vegetable juices (ready-to-eat)

Jurisdiction:  EU

Commencement:   28th February 2019

Amends:   EU Regulation No. 2073/2005 on microbiological criteria for foodstuffs

 

Mini Summary

EU Regulation No. 2073/2005 on microbiological criteria for foodstuffs lays down the microbiological criteria for certain micro-organisms and the implementing rules to be complied with by food business operators when implementing the general and specific hygiene measures referred to in Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No. 852/2004. Food business operators must ensure that foodstuffs comply with the relevant microbiological criteria set out in this Regulation.

Amendment

The European Committee for Standardisation and the International Organisation for Standardisation recently revised a number of reference methods and a procedure to verify compliance with microbiological criteria and this created the need to update Regulation (EC) No. 2073/2005 on microbiological criteria for foodstuffs accordingly.

The update involves in particular the requirements for the use of alternative methods as a result of the revised standard protocol EN ISO 16140-2, the way results are reported and the new methods for:

  • the detection of Salmonella, Cronobacter and staphylococcal enterotoxin;
  • the detection and the quantification of histamine; and
  • the listing of aerobic colony count and for colony-count method for Enterobacteriaceae.

There is a transitional provision, in that food business operators may apply the alternative analytical methods, referred to in Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No. 2073/2005 until 31 December 2021, when Article 1 of this Regulation will become legally binding.

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