09/20/2026
This morning’s milk test results are in. 🥛🧫
Fresh bulk-tank milk:
• SPC: No detectable growth
• Coliforms: No detectable growth
Bottled milk, four days old:
• SPC: 2,000 CFU/mL
• Coliforms: No detectable growth
For comparison, the Raw Milk Institute’s standards call for rolling three-month averages below 5,000 CFU/mL for SPC and below 10 CFU/mL for coliforms. Both samples fall well within those standards, which is typical for us.
SPC is not a count of “bad bacteria.” It counts the microorganisms capable of growing under the test conditions, including harmless, neutral, and potentially beneficial bacteria.
No detectable growth in the fresh sample does not mean the entire tank was sterile. It means the bacterial population was so low that no colonies grew from the small sample tested. After four days, an initially tiny population can slowly reproduce and become measurable. An SPC of 2,000 CFU/mL after four days is very low and good to see.
Coliforms are a more specific indicator of milkhouse hygiene and possible environmental contamination. Although RAWMI’s target is a rolling average below 10 CFU/mL, our batch-release standard is stricter: no detectable coliform growth. If a batch shows any, we do not sell it.
We test every batch, hold it until the results are complete, and share those results openly because transparency should be ordinary when people trust you with their food.
Nothing unusual here. Just another clean batch and another good morning in the Meadowvale farm lab. 🙌🏻
