5K-10.003. Dating, Standards for Milk, Milk Products, Manufactured Milk Products and Frozen Desserts

(1) Shelf-Life Dating and Expiration Dating.

(a) All milk and milk products shall be legibly labeled with their shelf-life date. The date or date code for frozen desserts and other manufactured milk products shall indicate the date of manufacture of the product or the last day the product is to be offered for sale. The standards for labeling for all products shall be in accordance with 21 CFR, Part 101, adopted by reference in paragraph 5K-10.001(1)(e), F.A.C.

(b) The microbial counts for the determination of the shelf-life of milk and milk products shall not exceed 30 million colony forming units (CFU)/mL.

(c) The shelf-life expiration date shall appear in conspicuous and easily legible bold-face print or type in distinct contrast to the background, by typography, layout, color, embossing, debossing, or molding of other matter on the package, and shall be placed on that part of the container most likely to be displayed, presented, or shown, or examined under customary conditions of display for retail sale, and shall not interfere with legibility or other mandatory labeling requirements of the product. However, cup containers that are labeled with the date on the bottom shall have displayed on the cap information concerning the location of the date.

(d) The shelf-life expiration date shall be expressed by the three letters of the month followed by the numeral or numerals constituting the appropriate calendar date or numerically. For example: “June 1” shall be expressed “JUN 1” or “0601.”

(e) No milk or milk products shall be offered for sale as a Grade “A” product after the shelf-life expiration date shown on the container. All milk and milk products offered for sale after the shelf-life expiration date will be deemed to be misbranded and subject to be impounded and made unsalable or otherwise disposed of by the department, under the provisions of Section 502.231, F.S.

(f) This rule does not apply to containers of milk or milk products which are not to be sold in the State of Florida.

(g) Each processor shall establish the maximum shelf-life of each product in the hands of the consumer under normal storage conditions.

(2) Department Shelf – Life Testing and Testing Procedures.

When the Department tests shelf-life, the following testing procedures apply:

(a) Milk product samples shall not exceed the microbial count limits specified in this subsection when tested to determine that shelf-life expiration dates stated on the containers assure the consumer of acceptable quality milk and milk products when kept under normal storage conditions. The temperature at the time of collection shall be officially recorded by the collector. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to prohibit the department from taking special samples for analysis and making special tests in order to assure all milk and milk products comply with the minimum standards of freshness, quality and palatability. In the event the department determines a processor’s or a manufacturer’s shelf-life for a given product is improper, the department shall serve written notice on the processor or manufacturer and the processor or manufacturer immediately upon receipt of such notice shall alter the shelf-life expiration date of the product to comply with the department tests. Compliance shall be with the next processing of the product after receipt of such department notice. Failure of the processor or manufacturer to timely correct the shelf-life expiration date of the product will result in a stop-sale order pursuant to section 502.231(4), F.S.

(b) Milk product samples tested by the department shall be tested in accordance with the method adopted in Rule 5K-10.001(1)(m), Florida Administrative Code. The microbial counts for milk products shall not exceed 30 million colony forming units (CFU)/ml.

(3) Chemical, bacteriological and temperature standards for manufacture of Grade “A” products:

Grade “A” raw milk for pasteurization, ultra pasteurization or aseptic processing.

Temperature, Bacterial Limits, Drugs, and Somatic	Standards shall be the same as those listed in Section 7 of the PMO.
Cell Count
Added Water	Freezing point not to exceed -0.526º H.

Grade “A” pasteurized or ultra pasteurized milk and milk products and bulk shipment heat treated milk products.

Temperature, Bacterial Limits, Coliform, Phosphatase, and Drugs	Standards shall be the same as those listed in Section 7 of the PMO.
Added Water	Freezing point not to exceed -0.526º H.

Grade “A” aseptically processed milk and milk products.

Temperature, Bacterial Limits and Limits and Drugs	Standards shall be the same as those listed in Section 7 of the PMO.
Added Water	Freezing point not to exceed -0.526º H.

(4) Chemical, bacteriological and temperature standards for Frozen Desserts:

Raw Milk and Cream.

Temperature	Not to exceed 45º F (7º C).
Bacterial Limits	Milk – not to exceed 500,000 CFU/ml. In no case shall raw milk have a standard plate or direct microscopic clump count in excess of 1,000,000 CFU/ml.
Drugs	Milk and cream – No positive result with drug residue methods referenced in Section 6 of the PMO.
Somatic Cell Count	Not to exceed 750,000/ml; Goat’s milk – Not to exceed 1,500,000.

Frozen Desserts and Other Products Defined in this chapter.

Temperature	Pasteurized Mix (plain) 45º F (7º C). Pasteurized Mix (flavored) 45º F (7º C). Frozen Desserts 0º F (-17.8º C). Other – 0º F          (-17.8º C).
Bacterial Limits*	Pasteurized Mix (plain) 50,000 CFU/gram. Pasteurized Mix (flavored) 50,000 CFU/gram. Frozen Desserts – 50,000 CFU/gram. Other – 50,000 CFU/gram.
Drugs	No positive result with drug residue methods referenced in Section 6 of the PMO.
Coliform	Pasteurized Mix (plain) 10 CFU/gram. Pasteurized Mix (flavored) 20 CFU/gram. Frozen Desserts (plain) 10 CFU/gram. Frozen Desserts (bulky flavored) 20 CFU/gram. Other (plain) 10 CFU/gram. Other (bulky flavored) 20 CFU/gram.
Phosphatase	Less than 1 microgram per ml. (less than 500 milliunits/L by the Fluorometric Procedure) or equivalent.

*Not applicable to cultured products

Dry Dairy Products

Dry dairy products used as ingredients in frozen desserts shall meet the requirements for “Extra Grade” or better as defined by the U.S. Standards for Grades for the particular product.

(5) Chemical, Bacteriological, and Temperature Standards for Manufactured Milk Products.

Raw milk for manufactured milk products.

Temperature	Cooled to 50º F (10º C) or less within four (4) hours or less, of the commencement of the first milking, and to 45º F (7º C) or less within two hours after the completion of milking. Provided, the blend temperature after the first and subsequent milkings does not exceed 50º F (10º C).
Bacterial limits	Individual producer milk not to exceed 500,000 CFU/ml. prior to commingling with other producer milk. Not to exceed 1,000,000 CFU/ml. as commingled milk prior to processing.
Drugs	No positive result with drug residue methods referenced in Section 6 of the PMO.
Somatic Cell Count	Individual producer milk: Not to exceed 750,000 per ml. Goat milk: Not to exceed 1,000,000 per ml.

Cheeses made with pasteurized milk or pasteurized reconstituted milk.

Temperature	Cheeses shall comply with 7 CFR Part 58.154.
Coliforms	Not to exceed 10/gram.
Phosphatase	Negative

Cheeses made from non-pasteurized (raw) milk shall comply with 7 CFR Part 58.439.

Temperature	Cheeses shall comply with 7 CFR Part 58.154.
Coliforms	Not to exceed 10/gram.
Phosphatase	Negative
E. coli	<1/gram
Pathogens	None

Butter

Temperature	Not to exceed 40°F.
Coliforms	Not to exceed 10/gram.
Mold	Not to exceed 20/gram.

Rulemaking Authority 502.014, 502.042 FS. Law Implemented 502.014, 502.042, 502.091 FS. History–New 9-21-67, Amended 9-26-69, 12-24-71, 1-26-81, 8-31-82, 8-16-84, Formerly 5D-1.07, Amended 10-9-86, 5-19-87, 12-29-88, 6-27-90, 8-29-93, 12-4-94, 7-2-95, 10-15-03, 4-14-08, Formerly 5D-1.007, Formerly 5K-4.043, Amended 6-20-22, 11-5-23.