Code of Massachusetts Regulations
330 CMR - DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES
Title 330 CMR 27.00 - Standards and Sanitation Requirements for Grade A Raw Milk
Section 27.13 - Examination of Milk

Universal Citation: 330 MA Code of Regs 330.27

Current through Register 1531, September 27, 2024

Milk may be examined or sampled by the Department.

(1) Sampling

(a) During any consecutive six month period, at least one sample per month shall be taken of raw milk for pasteurization, ultra-pasteurization, or aseptic processing and raw for retail sale at the dairy farm.

(b) All samples of milk for pasteurization, ultra pasteurization or aseptic processing shall be collected and delivered to a milk plant, receiving station, or other location approved by the regulatory agency.

(c) Samples of raw milk for retail sale shall be taken while in the possession of the farm or at any time prior to delivery to the plant or consumer.

(2) Testing

(a) Required bacterial counts, DMSCC, drug, and cooling temperature checks shall be performed on raw milk.

(b) Samples shall be analyzed at an official laboratory or officially designated laboratory. The results of all tests on milk and milk products shall be forwarded to the Department.

(c) All sampling procedures and required laboratory examinations shall be in substantial compliance with the latest edition of Standard Methods for the Examination of Dairy Products of the American Public Health Association, or any successor document, and the latest edition of Official Methods of Analysis of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists, or any successor document.

(d) Such procedures, including the certification of sample collectors, and examinations shall be evaluated in accordance with the Evaluation of Milk Laboratories, the most recent edition of the Recommendations of the United States Public Health Service/ Food and Drug Administration, or any successor document.

(e) Examinations and tests to detect adulterants, including pesticides, shall be conducted as the Department requires.

(3) Procedures. Violations of bacteria, confirmed somatic cell counts, adulterants, pesticides, and cooling temperature standards shall be followed promptly by inspection to determine and correct the cause.

(4) Laboratory Techniques

(a) Procedures for the collection and holding of samples; the selection and preparation of apparatus, media and reagents; and the analytical procedures, incubation, reading, and reporting of results, shall be in substantial compliance with Standard Methods for the Examination of Dairy Products and the Official Methods of Analysis, Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC). The procedures shall be those specified therein for:
1. Standard plate count at 32°C.

2. Simplified methods for viable counts of raw milk at 32°C.

3. Alternate methods for viable counts for raw milk and the petrifilm method for raw milk;

4. Coliform test with solid media at 32°C for all milk and milk products;

(b) Disc assay methods for antibiotics shall be as specified in the U.S. Grade "A" Pasteurized Milk Ordinance.

(c) Screening and confirmatory methods for the detection of abnormal milk.

(d) Any other tests may be required which have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Commissioner to be equally accurate, precise, and practical.

(e) Any one of the following three tests may be used for screening raw milk samples to indicate a range of somatic cell levels: California Mastitis Test, Modified Whitside Test, or Wisconsin Mastitis Test.

(f) One of the following confirmatory tests shall be used: Direct Microscopic Somatic Cell Counting, Electronic Somatic Cell Counting, Optical Somatic Cell Counting for Membrane Filter DNA Somatic Cell Count, or any other standard procedure previously approved, in writing, by the Department.

(g) Laboratories using acceptable screening tests shall confirm that sample of herd milk which exceeds any of the following screening test results:
1. California Mastitis Test--1

2. Modified Whitside Test--1+

3. Wisconsin Mastitis Test--18 mm

The results of the screening test, or confirmatory test, shall be recorded on the official records of the dairy farm and a copy of the results sent to the milk producer,

(h) When a warning letter has been sent because of excessively high somatic cell counts, an official inspection of the dairy shall be made by regulatory personnel. This inspection shall be made during milking time.

(i) When bacterial counts and temperature determinations are made of several samples of the same milk collected from the same supply on the same day these values are averaged arithmetically, and the results recorded as the count for that day.

(j) A computer or other information retrieval system may be used.

(5) Disease Transmission

(a) When samples of raw milk are taken, they shall be drawn following adequate agitation.

(b) Raw milk must be produced under clean, sanitary conditions to limit the possibility of any disease transmission via raw milk.

(c) Raw milk is known to transmit disease, including (but not limited to):
1. Listeriosis;

2. Yersiniosis;

3. Campylobacteriosis;

4. Salmonellosis;

5. Brucellosis;

6. Q-fever;

7. Tuberculosis; and

8. Any other disease so designated by the Department.

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