.____________________________________GB 5408 – 1999 .

State Standards of the People’s Republic of China

GB
GB 5408.2 – 1999

Sterilized Milk

Promulgated on December 17, 1999 Effective on May 1, 2000

Promulgated by
State Bureau of Quality and Technology Supervision

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Preface
In this Standard, the “4.1.2 Food additives and food nutrition fortifiers…”, “4.3.1 Net
Contents”, “4.4 Hygiene Specification”, “4.5 The Added Quantity of Food Additives and Nutrition
Fortifiers”, and “7.1.1 The Contents of Compulsory Label’ shall be the clauses that must be done,
and the others are recommendable clauses.

The Standard was proposed by the State Bureau of Light Industry.

Matters concerning the Standard shall be delegated by the Dairy Standardization Center.

The Heilongjiang Institute of Dairy Products was in charge of drafting the Standard.

The chief drafters are Wang Yun and Wang Xin Xiang.

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 .____________________________________GB 5408 – 1999 .

State Standards of the People’s Republic of China

Sterilized Milk GB 5408.2 – 1999

1. Scope
The Standard stipulates the requirements of the classification, technology, test method,
labeling, packing, transportation and storage of the products of sterilized milk.

The Standard shall apply to the sterilized liquid products that are made from the main raw
material of cow (or ewe) milk or recombined milk with or without the addition of adjuncts.

2. Standards Cited
The clauses cited herein from the following Standard shall constitute the clauses of the
Standard. All those editions of the cited Standard were valid at the time of the publication of the
Standard. However, as any Standard will be revised, the users of the Standard should study the
possibility of the application of the most recent edition of the pertinent Standard.

GB 191 – 1990 Marks for Packing and Transportation

GB 2760 – 1996 Hygiene Standard for the Use of Food Additives
GB 4789.26 – 1994 Microbiological Test of Foodstuff: Commercial Sterility Test of
Bottled or Canned Foodstuff
GB/T 5009.24 – 1996 Determination Methods of Aflatoxin M 1 and B1 in Foodstuff
GN/T 5409 –1985 Methods of Milk Assay
GB/T 5413.1 – 1997 Formulated Foodstuff and Milk Powder for Babies and Infants:
Determination of Protein
GB/T 5413.30 – 1997 Milk and Milk Powder: Determination of Impurity
GB/T 5413.32 – 1997 Milk Powder: Determination of Nitrates and Nitrites
GB 7718 – 1994 General Standard of Foodstuff Label
GB 14880 – 1994 Hygiene Standard for the Use of Nutrition Fortifiers

3. Classification of Products
3.1 Sterilized Pure Cow (or Ewe) Milk: The products made from the raw materials of pure cow (or
ewe) milk or recombined milk skimmed or non-skimmed without addition of adjuncts through
ultra high temperature treatment, aseptic filling or retorting.

Approved by State Bureau of quality and Technology Supervision on Effective on May 1, 2000
December 17, 1999

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3.2 Sterilized Flavored Milk: The products made from the raw materials of pure cow (or ewe) milk
or recombined milk skimmed or non-skimmed with addition of adjuncts through ultrahigh
temperature treatment, aseptic filling or retorting.

4. Technical Requirements
4.1. Raw Material Requirements

4.1.1 Raw Material: The raw material shall meet the stipulations of the state standards or the
trade standards.

4.1.2 The food ingredients and nutrition fortifiers shall be selected from those allowable
substances listed in GB 2760 and GB 14880, and also shall meet the stipulations of the
state standards or the trade standards. No preservatives shall be added.

4.2. Organoleptic Properties:

The stipulations in Table 1 shall be satisfied.

Table 1
Item Sterilized Cow (or Ewe) Milk Sterilized Flavored Milk

Color Homogeneously white or pale Homogeneously white or of

yellow the color that the flavored milk
should have
Taste and Smell Intrinsic taste and smell of theThe taste and smell that the
cow milk or ewe milk without flavored milk should have
peculiar taste or smell
Texture Homogeneous liquid without flocculation or becoming viscous,
small amount of precipitation is allowable

4.3. Physicochemical Specification:

4.3.1 Net Content:

The minus deviation of the net content from the nominal quantity for a unit package shall
not be greater than that stated by the Table 2. The average net content of the products of
the same batch shall not be less than that stated by the label.

Table 2
Net Content Allowable Minus Deviation
mL
Relative Deviation, % Absolute Deviation, mL
100-200 4.5 --
200-300 -- 9
300-500 3 --
500-1,000 -- 15
1,000-10,000 1.5 --

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4.3.2 The protein, fat, non-fat milk solid, acidity, and impurity shall meet the stipulations in Table
3.

Table 3
Sterilized Pure Cow (or Ewe) Sterilized Flavored Milk
Item Milk
Full Fat Partially Skimmed Full Fat Partially Skimmed
Skimmed Skimmed
Fat, %  3.1 1.0-2.0  0.5  2.5 0.8-1.5  0.4
Protein, %  2.9 2.3

Non-Fat Milk Solid, 8.1 6.5

% 
Acidity,  T  18.0 --

Impurity, mg/kg  2

4.4. Hygiene Specification

The stipulations listed in Table 4 shall be satisfied.

Table 4 .
Item Sterilized Pure Cow (or Sterilized Flavored Milk
Ewe) Milk
Nitrates (Calculated as 11.0
NaNO3) mg/kg 
Nitrites (Calculated as 0.2
NaNO2) mg/kg 
Aflatoxin M1, 0.5
μg/kg 
Microorganism Commercial Sterility

4.5. Added Quantity of Food ingredients and Nutrition Fortifiers

The quantity of food ingredients and nutrition fortifiers added shall meet the stipulations in
GB 2760 and GB 14880.

5. Sterilization Requirements
One of the following methods may be used for sterilization.

5.1. Ultra High Temperature Treatment: The milk is subjected to a temperature of over 135C for
several seconds in flow process, and then packed under aseptic conditions.

5.2. Retorting (Secondary Sterilization): Hermetically sealed sterilized or none-sterilized milk is

subjected to a temperature of not lower than 110C for over 10 mins.

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6. Experimental Method
6.1 Organoleptic Tests

6.1.1 Color and Texture: Place a certain amount of sample in a 50 mL beaker, observe the
color and texture under the natural light.

6.1.2 Taste and Smell: Open the sample package and smell the product first. Then taste it
after gargling with warm boiled water.

6.2 Physicochemical Tests

6.2.1 Net Content: Transfer the complete content of a unit package with the defined amount of
milk into a measuring cylinder, and then take the reading of its volume.

6.2.2 Protein: Determine the protein content in conformity to GB/T 5413.1 with 10 g samples.

6.2.3 Fat: Determine the fat content in conformity to GB/T 5409.

6.2.4 Non-Fat Milk Solid: Determine the non-fat milk solid content in conformity to GB/T 5409.

6.2.5 Acidity: Determine the acidity in conformity to GB/T 5409.

6.2.6 Impurity: Determine the impurity in conformity to GB/T 5413.30.

6.3 Hygienic Tests

6.3.1 Nitrates and Nitrites: Determine the nitrates and nitrites in conformity to GB/T 5413.32.

6.3.2 Aflatoxin M1: Determine the aflatoxin M1 in conformity to GB/5009.24.

6.3.3 Microorganism: Determine the microorganism in conformity to GB 4789.26.

7. Labeling, Packaging, Transportation and Storage

7.1 Labeling

7.1.1 Compulsory Label Content

7.1.1.1 The label of the product shall be made in accordance with stipulations of GB 7718.
Furthermore, the category(according to the Chapter 3 of the Standard) of the product and
the contents of protein, fat, non-fat milk solid shall be expressed explicitly.

7.1.1.2 The product made from recombined milk shall be indicated clearly “recombined milk.”

7.1.1.3 The mark for outer packing box shall meet the stipulations of GB 191.

7.1.2 Recommended Label Content

The method of sterilization may be indicated on the label (according to the Chapter 5 of the
Standard). The name of the product may be called “ xxxx milk.”

7.2 Packaging

All the packaging materials shall meet the requirements of food hygiene.

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7.3 Transportation

The product under transportation shall avoid being exposed to the sun shining and raining.
The product shall not be transported together with toxic, harmful or peculiarly smelling things.

7.4 Storage

The product shall be stored in a dry and well-ventilated place, and shall not be stored
together with toxic, harmful, peculiarly smelling or adversely affecting things.

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