Recent sampling and testing of ingredients used for plant-based dairy alternatives has revealed highly variable microbial loads among ingredients, although many samples contained a high proportion of spore-forming microbes as part of the total counts.
The study surveyed 88 different plant-based ingredients from 12 different suppliers, including pulses (34 pea, 13 faba bean, two mung bean, and one chickpea), cereals/pseudocereals (20 oat, one rice, one amaranth, and one quinoa), and drupes (nine almond, five coconut, and one cashew).