The Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015

Sale of natural mineral water N.I.

13.—(1) A person must not sell water which is bottled and labelled “natural mineral water” unless that water is natural mineral water recognised in accordance with regulation 4(2).

[F1 (2) A person must not sell bottled natural mineral water if it—

(a) has been extracted from a spring—

(i) in Northern Ireland, which has been exploited in contravention of regulation 8; or

(ii) outside Northern Ireland, which has been exploited otherwise than in compliance with the requirements as described at regulation 8(1)(a) and (c) and regulation 8(2), or if the competent authority of the area in which the spring is exploited has not given permission for the spring to be so exploited;

(b) has been subjected—

(i) in Northern Ireland, to any treatment or addition in contravention of regulation 9; or

(ii) outside Northern Ireland, to—

(aa) a treatment which is not described at regulation 9(1)(a)(i), 9(1)(a)(ii), a fluoride removal treatment, or an ozone-enriched air oxidation treatment;

(bb) any addition other than an addition described in regulation 9(1)(b); or

(cc) any disinfection treatment, the addition of bacteriostatic elements, or any other treatment likely to change the viable colony count of the natural mineral water;

(c) is bottled—

(i) in Northern Ireland, in contravention of regulation 10; or

(ii) outside Northern Ireland, in contravention of the requirements as described in regulation 10;

(d) is labelled—

(i) in Northern Ireland, in contravention of regulation 11; or

(ii) outside Northern Ireland, in contravention of the requirements as described in regulation 11;

(e) is advertised in contravention of regulation 12.]

(3) A person must not sell bottled natural mineral water—

(a) which contains—

(i) parasites or pathogenic micro-organisms;

(ii) Escherichia coli or other coliforms and faecal streptococci in any 250ml sample examined;

(iii) sporulated sulphite-reducing anaerobes in any 50ml sample examined; or

(iv) Pseudomonas aeruginosa in any 250 ml sample examined;

(b) where the total colony count of the water at the source from which that water was taken does not comply with paragraph 7 of Schedule 4;

(c) where the revivable total colony count of that water is in excess of that which would result from the normal increase in the bacterial count which it had at source; or

(d) where that water contains any organoleptic defect.

(4) A person must not sell natural mineral water from the same spring under more than one trade description.

Textual Amendments

F1 Reg. 13(2) substituted (27.10.2017) by The Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2017 (S.R. 2017/201), regs. 1, 4