Spices and herbs: Sorting through the filth

Spices have been used for centuries as food preservatives, flavor enhancers, and medicinals. Often grown and processed outside of the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considers spices by nature to be Ready-to-Eat (RTE) products.As with other raw agricultural-based food ingredients, spices may be contaminated with microbial pathogens, toxins, and other environmental contaminants. A recent report, “Draft Risk Profile: Pathogens and Filth in Spices”, published by the Food and Drug Administration has concluded that approximately 7% of imported spices are contaminated with Salmonella, and an unknown percentage may be adulterated and contaminated. A collection of ten common spices and herbs (cinnamon, ginger, thyme, oregano, black pepper, paprika, tumeric, sage, parsley, and marjoram) was obtained from a spice vendor and the samples were analyzed for the presence of bacteria using traditional microbiology, molecular diagnostics, matrix-assisted time-of-flight mass spectroscopy; Ochratoxin A using LC/MS; and heavy metals using ion-coupled plasma technology. Of the ten spice samples tested, 40% were positive for salmonella and 80% tested positive for other bacteria, 40% tested positive for lead at levels which exceeded food guidelines, and none of the samples collected tested positive for Ochratoxin A at current regulatory levels. We have examined ten common spices and herbs using a variety of analytical methods used to determine the quality and safety of these ready to eat foods. Our results have demonstrated that some of these foods are in fact contaminated with a bacterial pathogen and environmental hazards.