1.

The revivable total colony count of a natural mineral water at source shall conform to its normal viable colony count and give satisfactory evidence of the protection of the source against all contamination. This total colony count shall be determined under the conditions laid down in Annex I, Section II, point 1.3.3. After bottling, the total colony count at source may not exceed 100 per millilitre at 20 to 22 °C in 72 hours on agar-agar or an agar-gelatine mixture and 20 per millilitre at 37 °C in 24 hours on agar-agar. The total colony count shall be measured within the 12 hours following bottling, the water being maintained at 4 °C ± 1 °C during this 12-hour period. At source, those values must not normally exceed 20 per millilitre at 20 to 22 °C in 72 hours and 5 per millilitre at 37 °C in 24 hours respectively, on the understanding that they shall be considered as guide figures and not as maximum permitted concentrations.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-11-10 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.