This study was undertaken to determine the microbiological status of spices purchased such as garlic, mustard, pepper etc. from retail shops in South Korea in order to provide basic data for setting Korean national criteria. A total 52 samples of natural spices and spice products from retail shops was investigated to determine their microbial status.
The total aerobic mesophilic bacteria count showed various levels of contamination in all samples (ranging from 1.0 x10 cfu/g to 2.0 x 106 cfu/g). 7.7% of samples displayed high counts of mesophilic bacteria (≥105 cfu/g). Coliforms were found in 11.5% of samples while E.coli was detected in only one sample, pepper powder.
Our study results suggest that the potential risk of using spices as additions to ready-to-eat foods should be seriously considered since contaminated microorganism may multiply to deleterious levels in foods to which spices are added. We will further examine microorganism pollution levels in more spice products from retail markets in Korea. Our study results will provide important monitoring information which will be useful for developing national standards necessary for safety management of spices on Korea market.