Journal of Food Protection, Vol., No., Pages - (March ) Copyright International Association of Milk, Food, and Environmental Sanitarians Microanalytical Quality of and Marjoram, Sage and Thyme, Allspice, Black Pepper and Paprika JOHN S. GECAN, * RUTH BANDLER, LARRY E. GLAZE ' and JOHN C. ATKINSON Division of Microbiology and Division of Mathematics, Food and Drug Administration, Washington, D.C. (Received for publication September, ) ABSTRACT A -year national retail market survey was made to determine the sanitary quality of ground and unground, and, and ground, and. The official methods of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists were used to count light filth such as insect fragments, rodent hair fragments, feather barbules, mites, thrips and aphids. Insect fragments were the most frequently encountered defect, with count means ranging from. for g of ground to. for g of ground. The percent of samples containing insect fragments ranged from. to. for ground and ground, respectively. Other counts ranged as follows: rodent hair fragments, to (for g of ground ); feather barbules, to (for g of ground ); mites, to (for g of unground ); thrips, to (for g of unground ); aphids, to (for g of ground ). Howard mold counts of ranged from to %, with a mean of.%. Marjoram consists of the dried leaves and sometimes flowering tops of Origanum majorana L. (synonym Majorana hortensis Moench), a perennial herb of the mint family. The plants are harvested as soon as they have flowered and are dried in the open air or indoors with controlled, circulating warm air. Sage is the dried leaves of Salvia officinalis L., a perennial shrub of the mint family. Only the perfect green leaves are picked while the plants are in flower; they are dried in the shade or indoors by circulating warm air. Thyme consists of the dried leaves and flowering tops of Thymus vulgaris L., a perennial shrub of the mint family. The tops of the bushy shrub are harvested when the plants are in full bloom; after drying, the stems are stripped of leaves and flowers. Dried, and are marketed whole, unground (broken leaf), or ground. Sage is also sold rub- Division of Microbiology. Division of Mathematics. -Current address: Briar Lane NE, Bemidji, MN. bed. These three leafy spices are susceptible to infestation by field insects such as thrips and aphids before harvest. They may also become contaminated during processing or storage by insects, rodents and other animals. Allspice is the dried fruit of Pimenta dioica (L.) Merr. (synonym P. officinalis Lindl, an evergreen tree belonging to the myrtle family. The pea-sized berries are picked while still green and are sun-dried for to d, until they turn a dark reddish-brown. The spice can be used whole or ground. Insects, rodents and other animals may contaminate the berries during sun-drying or storage. Black pepper is the dried ripe fruit of the perennial vine Piper nigrum L. When the berries begin to turn red, the fruit stalks are picked and threshed to remove the fruit. The berries may be steeped in boiling water before being spread on mats to dry in the sun for to d. The end product is a small wrinkled corn, which can then be ground. Paprika is a powder made by grinding dried ripe pods of varieties of the pepper Capsicum annuum L. After harvesting, the inferior fruits are culled, the pods are cut open and either sun-dried on floors or mats on the ground, or artificially dried on trays in drying houses. The product is then ground to the required fineness by using a series of mills. Insects may attack the and fruits in the field, and along with rodents and other animals may contaminate the spice during drying, processing and storage. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) first reported a study on the quality of spices in, when Howard published a report on the contamination in spices as a probable source of insect and rodent hair fragments in catsup (). In, Helsel conducted a limited market survey of ground spices purchased in Washington, DC, retail grocery stores. Although all the spices examined contained some filth, the extent of contamination varied widely in different spices (). In, Helsel and Eisenberg made a survey of the spice-grinding industry in the New York and Boston areas to determine the relationship JOURNAL OF FOOD PROTECTION, VOL., MARCH
CONTAMINANTS IN GROUND AND UNGROUND SPICES of insect and rodent filth in ground spices to the condition of the raw materials before grinding and the sanitary conditions in the spice-grinding plant. Results of that survey indicated that the amount of filth in the unprocessed spice material correlated with the levels of insect fragments and animal hairs in the ground spices (). However, none of these studies resulted in the establishment of regulatory limits to control insect and animal contamination in ground spices. In, the FDA initiated a -year study to develop data on insect, bird, rodent and other animal contamination levels in selected retail market ground and unground spices and mold in ground. The sampling and analytical details on nine spice products from that program are presented in this report. Data from four other products were reported earlier (). MATERIALS AND METHODS Samples were collected by FDA inspectors from Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas, which were defined by the Bureau of Census as integrated economic and social units with a recognized urban population nucleus of substantial size (). The selection of areas was subject to the restriction that continental United States, Hawaii and Puerto Rico be proportionally represented with statistical adequacy. In each metropolitan area, products in three chain stores and two independent stores were selected for sampling. Two retail units of each spice were collected at each store, and whenever possible different brands of product were selected; however, if brand duplication was necessary, different production codes were collected. The collection plan was designed to ensure that the random sampling would adequately represent producers nationally. Analyses were conducted by FDA District laboratories according to the following Official Methods of Analysis of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (): ground,.(b)-(b); unground, see st supplement to th Edition; ground,.(b)-(b); unground,.; ground,.(b)-(b); unground,.(a)-(a); ground,.(b); ground,.; and ground,. and.. Data were obtained on the following numbers of samples: ground, ; unground, ; ground, ; unground, ; ground,,; unground,,; ground,,; ground,,; and ground,. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The significant defects found in the spices were insect fragments, rodent hair fragments, feather barbules, mites, whole or equivalent thrips, whole or equivalent aphids and mold (in ground ). Frequency distributions for these defects in each spice are given in Tables -. Statistical summaries of the defects found in each spice are given in Table. Counts of insect fragments ranged from for g of unground to, for g of unground ; count means varied from. for g of ground to. for g of ground. Samples containing insect fragments ranged from.% for ground to.% for ground. Counts of rodent hair fragments ranged from for g of ground, g of unground and g of ground to for g of ground ; count means varied from. for g of ground to. for g of ground. Samples containing rodent hair fragments ranged from.% for ground to.% for ground. Counts of feather barbules ranged from for g of ground to for g of ground ; count means varied from. for g of ground to. for g of ground. Samples containing feather barbules ranged from.% for ground to.% for ground. Mite counts ranged from for g of ground to for g of unground ; count means varied from for g of ground to. for g of unground. Samples containing mites ranged from.% for ground to.% for unground. TABLE. Frequency distribution of insect fragment counts. Insect fragment count (, g (, g ( g ( g ( -g ( g ( -g (, g (, -g - > L/l JOURNAL OF FOOD PROTECTION, VOL., MARCH
GECAN ET AL. TABLE. Frequency distribution of rodent hair counts. Rodent hair count (, g (, g ( g ( g ( -g ( g ( -g (, g (, -g - - TABLE. Frequency distribution of feather barbule counts. Feather barbule count (, g (, g ( g ( g ( -g ( g ( -g (, g (, -g - - - counts ranged from for g of ground and g of ground to for g of unground ; count means varied from for g of ground and g of to. for g of unground. Samples containing thrips ranged from.% for ground to.% for unground. Aphid counts ranged from for g of ground to for g of ground ; count means varied from for g of ground and g of to. for g of unground. Samples containing aphids ranged from % for ground to.% for unground. JOURNAL OF FOOD PROTECTION, VOL., MARCH
CONTAMINANTS IN GROUND AND UNGROUND SPICES TABLE. Frequency distribution of mite counts. Mite count (, g (, g ( g ( g ( -g ( g ( -g (, g (, -g - - - - - TABLE. Frequency distribution of thrips counts. count (, g (, g ( g ( g ( -g ( g ( -g (, g (, -g - - - - - JOURNAL OF FOOD PROTECTION. VOL., MARCH
GECAN ET AL. TABLE. Frequency distribution of aphid counts. Aphid count (, g (, g ( g ( g ( -g ( g ( -g (, g (, -g - - - - - TABLE. Statistical summary of defects found in spices. Defects Counts No. of samples Mean Range, - g.... Samples with defects (%)....... - g............ - g............ -log............ JOURNAL OF FOOD PROTECTION, VOL., MARCH
CONTAMINANTS IN GROUND AND UNGROUND SPICES... g..... -...... g......,...... g - g.................., -g............ Howard mold counts of ground ranged from %, with a mean count of.%. A total of % of the samples showed the presence of some mold; % showed Howard mold counts of % or less and % showed counts of % or less. Results of this survey indicated that failure to protect spices from insects and other animals during growth, harvest or preparation for export will result in infested and contaminated whole spices. Inadequate or incomplete removal of contaminated and infested spices before grinding will result in ground spices that are contaminated with insect fragments, animal hair fragments and mites as well as a wide variety of whole or equivalent insects. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors thank the FDA investigators, inspectors and analysts, who collected and analyzed the samples; the scientists of the Microanalytical Branch, Division of Microbiology, who assisted in the study; and Ruth B. Rupp for technical assistance. REFERENCES. Association of Official Analytical Chemists.. Official methods of analysis, th ed. AOAC, Arlington, VA.. Gecan, J. S., R. Bandler, L. E. Glaze, and J. C. Atkinson.. Microanalytical quality of ground and unground oregano, ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg. J. Food Prot. :-.. Helsel, W. G.. Survey of retail spice market -. FDA internal report, Food and Drug Administration, Washington, DC.. Helsel, W. G., and W. V. Eisenberg.. A survey of the spice grinding industry in New York City and Boston areas, August. FDA internal report, Food and Drug Administration, Washington, DC.. Howard, B. J.. Comments on contamination of spices as a probable source of insect fragments and rodent hairs in catsup. FDA internal report, Food and Drug Administration, Washington, DC.. U.S. Office of Management and Budget.. Standard metropolitan statistical areas, Revised ed. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC. JOURNAL OF FOOD PROTECTION, VOL., MARCH