Microbial Guidelines for RTD Cold Brew Tea

Hi Everyone,

I am looking for microbial guidelines for ready to drink cold brew tea.

I have searched for a fair amount of time but was unable to find a satisfactory answer.

I am hoping that someone here is able to help me in developing a strict microbial limits for ready to drink cold brew tea that I can use to evaluate our suppliers.

Our facility is based in Canada. We are looking to comply with CFIA and FDA regulations. We will be receiving cold brew tea from suppliers in India but we need to first establish the appropriate microbial testing criteria and limits.

Help would be greatly appreciated.

Best regards,

xissa 

Hi Everyone,

I am looking for microbial guidelines for ready to drink cold brew tea.

I have searched for a fair amount of time but was unable to find a satisfactory answer.

 

I am hoping that someone here is able to help me in developing a strict microbial limits for ready to drink cold brew tea that I can use to evaluate our suppliers.

 

Our facility is based in Canada. We are looking to comply with CFIA and FDA regulations. We will be receiving cold brew tea from suppliers in India but we need to first establish the appropriate microbial testing criteria and limits.

 

Help would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

Best regards,

 

xissa 

Hi Xissa,

For Starters (European Tea Committee) ex Google -

Compendium_of_Guidelines_for_Tea_ISSUE_5,2018.pdf   782.29KB   22 downloads

(see Annex 11)

and, for comparison, a commercial Canadian spec. -

micro spec. Cold Brew Black Tea.PNG   22.48KB   0 downloads

Source -

Cold Brew Black-Tea.pdf   211.65KB   15 downloads

The official Canadian Survey of dried herbs/teas (2018) below suggests that the generic E.coli spec  in previous example was tightened which may have reflected the intended "No Brew" aspect, eg -

Canada,Guidelines microbial hazards in dried herbs, teas,2018.png   140.34KB   0 downloads

Source -

bacterial_pathogens_in_dried_herbs_and_dried_teas_2018.pdf   649KB   14 downloads

PS - I was unable to locate any official CFIA/USFDA micro specs for cold brewed tea.

PPS - can also see this recent short thread on similar topic -

https://www.ifsqn.co...ct/#entry185139