Cortez Creamery Raw Milk Safety and Testing
We take Our Raw Milk Safety Seriously!
What do we test for and what does it mean?
We follow the Raw Milk Institutes guidance for Raw Milk safety testing and production, We test our milk monthly for SPC, Coliforms, Salmonella, E. coli 0157. We will be seeking to become a RAWMI Listed and Certified dairy in 2023. Below are the descriptions of what we test for and our test results.
Standard Plate Count (SPC)
This is a count of how much bacteria can grow in the milk in the presence of Oxygen. This is an indicator of sanitization and handling of the milk, age of the milk, or disease in the animal.
Higher is bad, and lower is good.
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RAWMI Threshold for quality raw milk is under 5,000 cfu/ml
Coliforms
This test measures the total coliform count in the milk. Coliforms are Gram-negative rod-shaped bacteria that can grow in the presence or absence of oxygen. Coliforms are used as indicator organisms for fecal contamination, or mastitis infection of the animal. Not all coliforms cause infections.
RAWMI Threshold for quality raw milk is under 10 cfu/ml
Salmonella
This test detects salmonella in the milk. Salmonella is a pathogen capable of causing significant disease in humans
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RAWMI limit is 0
Must test negative
E.Coli O157
This test detects E. coli O157 in the milk. E. coli O157 is a pathogen capable of causing significant disease in humans, especially in children and the elderly or other immunocompromised individuals.
RAWMI limit is 0
Must test negative
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Standard Plate count
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40 cfu/ml
Coliforms
0 cfm/ml
Salmonella
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Negative
E. Coli 0157
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Negavite