Question - we are a small bakery that manufactures RTE pies. We do annual shelf life testing on on our pies (we do a combo of fruit flavors, pumpkin, and some chocolate/pecan pies). We did two tests on the product - for mold/yeast on day 1 of their shelf life, and mold/yeast on the last day of their shelf life. But our mold results are much higher on the first test than on the second test. For instance, our apple pie had a mold count of 30 cfu on the first day of its shelf life, and 10 cfu on the last day of shelf life. If mold is growing in the product shouldn't the second test be higher? How is it lower?
Any idea how this can happen or what we can do?