Many small food manufacturers make fresh delicacies to sell in local markets. Many such products incorporate spices into recipes. In most cases herbs and spices originate in foreign countries with low food safety records and because of this many potentially harmful bacteria or molds can be found in spices, usually in the dormant spore stage. When we add spices to products, particularly products that are raw or immersed in spice mixtures, we provide bacterial spores with the conditions that they need to develop into bacteria by providing them with temperature, water and a food source. I have bought products that look very tempting. Prepared beautifully in decorative jars which have been topped up with extra virgin olive oil, only to find, upon opening the jar that the contents have fermented. This is evident by the release of gas as it literally fizzes into a froth at the top of the open jar.
It is totally evident that the people making these products used non irradiated spices. At least, this is the most common cause. For a few dollars extra any spice can be bought from suppliers that supply irradiated spices. This ensures that all organic contaminants are totally neutralized. The taste of the spice isn’t effected greatly in this process either. It may even have a fresher taste than spices that have not been irradiated. My advice to all food vendors and food preparers is to use irradiated spice and to distance yourselves from the chance of product contamination or fermentation.