A diagnosis of the microbiological quality of dehydrated bee‐pollen produced in Brazil

Bee‐pollen is an apicultural product with potential for medical and nutritional applications; therefore, its microbiology quality should be monitored. In this context, the objective of this study was to diagnose the microbiological quality of 45 dehydrated bee‐pollen samples collected from November 2011 to December 2013 in nine Brazilian States. All the samples were negative for sulphite‐reducing Clostridium spores, Salmonella, coagulase‐positive Staphylococcus and Escherichia coli, which are micro‐organisms of public health concern. Total aerobic mesophilic micro‐organism counts ranged from