[Evaluation of microbiological quality of seasoning purchased in the retail network].

The estimation of microbiological quality of seasoning purchased in the retail network was the aim of this work. The study included five kinds of seasoning manufactured by four Polish companies. Microbiological analysis of the material included: total count of mesophilic aerobic bacteria and their spores, count of yeast and moulds and occurrence of coliforms bacteria, E. coli, Salmonella sp. and S. aureus. The results showed that the total count of mesophilic aerobic bacteria was high (10(5) -10(6) cfu x g(-1)) in the most of estimated spices and bacteria occurred mainly as spores. The low titre of coliform reduced down to 10(-2)-10(-3), occurrence of E. coli it was stated in 20% of samples of spices. However no pathogenic bacteria (Salmonella sp., S. aureus) was detected. Contamination of seasoning by yeasts and moulds was low in majority of samples and only in two samples the count of moulds was higher than 10(3) cfu x g(-1) and not answered requirements. Moulds were mainly represented by Aspergillus sp. (A. glaucus, A. niger, A. flavus) and than by Penicillium sp. and Rhizopus sp. Microbiological quality of seasoning was differentiated in dependence on the manufacturer.