Council Directive 76/118/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to certain partly or wholly dehydrated preserved milk for human consumption.

This Directive deals with partly or wholly dehydrated preserved milk as defined in the Annex attached. "Partly dehydrated milk" means the liquid product obtained directly by the partial removal of water from milk (art. 1 (2)(a)). "Wholly dehydrated milk" means the solid product whose moisture contains not more than 5 percent by weight in the finished product obtained directly by the removal of water from milk, wholly or partly skimmed milk, cream or from mixture of these products. The preservation of the products specified in the Annex shall be achieved, as per different categories referred therein, by sterilization through heat treatment, by the addition of sucrose or by dehydration (art. 1, par. 3). When the process of manufacture of the above-mentioned products does not include heat treatment, the basic materials shall be subjected to heat treatment at least equivalent to pasteurization (art. 4). Member States shall not allow the placing on the market of products which do not conform to the definition and the rules hereby established (art. 2). Article 5 specifies the substances which shall be authorized in the manufacture of the products. Article 6 fixes the maximum lactate content which is permitted. Only the information listed out in article 7 shall be compulsorily indicated in the packages, containers or labels. Article 8 lays down further provisions relating to the packages and containers. In accordance with article 15, this Directive shall not apply to ditetic products or products specifically prepared for babies and young children, nor to products intended for export outside the Community.