Herbs Quality/Food Safety Testing
Hey everyone! I am newish to the herb & spice industry so everyone has been so helpful when I ask for help.
I have one enquiry:
To anyone working or familiar with Herbs, what tests do you require your supplier to have on the COA, or if you yourself test? I can think of these:
APC, Salmonella, E.coli, Coliforms, Y&M
Filth, extraneous material, Heavy metals (Lead, Arsenic)
Sulfites?
What does everyone do?
Thank you!
EDIT: THEY ARE ALL DRY HERBS AND NOT FRESH! IMPORTED MAINLY FROM MEXICO.
Do you have to follow FSVP?
We do APC, e coli, salmonella, yeast and mold. Lead tends to be taken care of by letters of guarantee and random sampling by us.
Lead and sulphites tend to be more prevalent in spices from India and China than herbs from Mexico.
Do you have to follow FSVP?
No.
I am fairly knew in the seasoning industry. We import a lot of dried herbs for our blends. I have the supplier provided their COA and then I random sample to validate their COA.
We do APC, Salmonella, E.coli, Coliforms, Y&M. I am trying to get them to also do filth but no luck yet.
Hi,
in my previous organization, we were doing APC, Y & M, E Coli, Samlonella, Extraneous matter, foreign matter, insect damaged, insects including worms (for fresh spices). Annual testing includes pesticides, heavy metals (only for dry spices) and aflatoxins.
Thank you everyone! I contacted our lab he agreed with the microbial panel but said we could include Shiga-Toxin E.coli + Filth test. We're gonna go from there..
We do APC, e coli, salmonella, yeast and mold. Lead tends to be taken care of by letters of guarantee and random sampling by us.
Lead and sulphites tend to be more prevalent in spices from India and China than herbs from Mexico.
Since you are also a spice company, do you have an EMP program? If yes what do you test for? And have you found any positive tests? :)
You might also consider some tests for economic adulteration periodically. Fraud in dry herbs and spices is a known issue. You can find more info on ASTA's (American Spice Trade Association) website. They have some technical guides, etc.