Mold in fruit nectars and infant fruit purees

A national retail market survey was made to determine the levels of mold contamination in apricot, peach, and pear nectars and in apricot, peach, and pear infant purees. A total of 1987 samples were analyzed. The mean and range of Howard mold counts for each product were apricot nectar 1.5% (0-15%), peach nectar 1.2% (0-8%), pear nectar 1.1% (0-9%), apricot puree l.0% (0-10%), peach puree 0.9% (0-9%) and pear puree 0.5% (0-6%).