Good morning all,
Trying to understand Total Plate Count in spices and what is acceptable. I have very limited education in microbiology and i'm stuck on this.
We have carried Ginger through 3 suppliers in the past, all 3 gave us a spec sheet showing 100k CFU/g max for TPC. We received a sample from one of our other suppliers. Their spec sheet does not list TPC and after testing their sample, third part lab lists the TPC as 970k.CFU/g. What is acceptable? what is the norm?
Just trying to understand exactly what this means, i have not seen a TPC this high in any of my other lots/coas of any item we sell here. I guess what i am asking is if their a regulated number that we cannot go above, i cant find one anywhere. To me, the sample coming back at 970k is dirty/low quality but i'm not sure i have enough experience to make that call.
Thank you.