Microbiology of Spices
This white paper provides and overview of the microbiology of spices and includes information on pathogens of concern in spices, antimicrobial properties of spices, prevalence of bacteria in raw spices, role of microbiological testing, legal and regulatory requirements, and conclusions/additional resources on best practices for food safety.
Membership Required
A valid ASTA membership is required to access this page. Please use the form below to log in with your ASTA member account.
Log in
Not a member yet? Click here to learn about joining ASTA today.
Related Resources
Evaluation of Antimicrobial Properties on the Surrogate Organism Enterococcus faecium for Validation of Spice Processing Controls
This document, revised in January 2022, is an evaluation of Enterococcus faecium as a potential surrogate for validation of spice processing controls and provides data demonstrating the relative inhibition of the proposed surrogate (Enterococcus faecium) and a group of non-typhoidal Salmonella enterica.
Study Report: Salmonella Enumeration Method Comparison in Onion and Garlic
This report summarizes the results of a study to determine the performance of three Salmonella enumeration methods [Most Probable Number (MPN), Tryptic Soy Agar overlaid with Xylose Lysine Deoxycholate Agar (TSA/XLD), and RAPID' Salmonella agar by spread-plating (RAP-SAL)] based on the recovery of inoculated Salmonella on ASTA-member donated raw garlic and onion samples collected in the summer of 2024.
