Assessment of the microbiological quality of spices and herbs commercialized in Lebanon

Abstract

Spices and herbs are widely used in almost all types of food preparation and their microbial contamination may pose spoilage and public health risk. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess the microbiological quality of spices and herbs commercialized in Lebanon. A total of 480 samples of thirteen most commonly consumed types of spices and herbs were collected at two complete sets at three months interval. Each type was purchased in 5 common brands from 4 categories: packaged in companies with Food Safety Management System (FSMS), packaged in companies without FSMS, packaged imported, and unpackaged. A composite sampling approach was applied and 96 composite samples were tested for moisture content, total aerobic mesophilic bacteria TAMB, coliforms, Escherichia coli, Salmonella, sulfite-reducing anaerobic bacteria, Clostridium perfringens, yeasts and molds. The moisture profile of all samples was adequate except for sumac. All samples were negative for Salmonella. However, E. coli was found in one paprika sample at a count of 2.2 log CFU/g. Total aerobic mesophilic bacteria, sulfite reducing anaerobic bacteria, coliforms, C. perfringens, yeasts and molds were found in 88.5%, 42.7%, 14.6%, 17.7% and 54.2% of the samples, respectively. According to the International Commission on Microbiological Specifications for Foods (ICMSF), 1.0%, 2.1%, 7.3% of the samples were unacceptable for TAMB, coliforms, yeasts and molds, respectively. According to the Lebanese Standards, 1.0%, 4.2%, 6.3%, 1.0% and 7.3% of the samples had unacceptable counts of TAMB, coliforms, sulfite reducing anaerobic bacteria, E. coli, yeasts and molds, respectively. Among the four categories, imported samples had the best microbiological quality, followed by locally packaged in companies with FSMS, then locally packaged in companies without FSMS and the poorest microbiological quality was for the unpackaged spices and herbs. This study highlighted the importance of storage conditions, good hygienic practices, process controls and FSMSs in the spices and herbs sector.