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Circular FSH 9/63 issued by the Ministry of Agriculture,
Fisheries and Food on 18th July, 1963, gives a summary of the
above regulations.
The Liquid Egg (Pasteurisation) Regulations, 1963—These
Regulations, which come into force on the 1st January, 1964,
require that all bulked liquid egg (or frozen whole egg) used for
foods for human consumption, shall be pasteurised before use.
All liquid whole egg from abroad must be pasteurised before it
can be imported into the country. Egg broken out on the food
manufacturers' premises and used within 24 hours is specifically
exempted.
The temperature and holding time for such pasteurisation are
laid down as not less than 148°F. for minutes, a time/temperature
combination which is lethal to all salmonella organisms.
The Alpha Amylase Test—
The alpha amylase test in relation to the heal treatment
of whole egg is analogous to the phosphatase test which is
used for testing the efficiency of the pasteurisation of milk
and depends upon the fact that heat destroys the alpha
amylase activity in whole egg in proportion to the degree of
heat treatment given.
If untreated whole egg is mixed with a starch solution
the alpha amylase degrades the starch so that the normal blue
colouration which occurs when iodine and starch are mixed
does not develop and this intensity of blue colour is inversely
proportional to the amount of alpha amylase present.
The results of an alpha amylase test on whole egg mixture
therefore indicate whether or not a satisfactory time/temperature
combination has been reached.
Bread and Flour Regulations, 1963—These Regulations reenact
the Flour (Composition) Regulations, 1960, and will come
into force on the 1st September, 1964.
In brief the Regulations—
(a) lay down requirements as to the composition of various
types of bread;
(b) prohibit the use in flour and bread of colouring matter
except caramel which may be added to flour and bread
other than white and soda bread;
(c) permit the use in flour, other than wholemeal, of certain
bleaching and improving agents;
(d) prohibit the sale or advertisement for use in bread and
flour of any bleaching or improving agent other than a