# Nutritional Quality and Safety Characteristics of Imported Biscuits Markered in Basrah, Iraq
## 3 Results and Discussion
### Microbial Content  
The microbiological features of the examined biscuits are shown in Table 5. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c} \hline
**Biscuit Type** & **Total Plate Count (TPC)** & _S. aureus_ & _Salmonella_ & _Bacillus spp._ & **Yeasts and Molds** \\ \hline Cookies & & & & & \\ BSC1-S & 2.62 \(\pm\) 0.04 & ND & ND & 1.04 \(\pm\) 0.02 & 1.62 \(\pm\) 0.02 \\ BSC2-S & 2.81 \(\pm\) 0.07 & 1.07 \(\pm\) 0.04 & ND & 1.03 \(\pm\) 0.03 & 1.67 \(\pm\) 0.01 \\ BSC3-S & 2.65 \(\pm\) 0.03 & ND & ND & 1.01 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 1.63 \(\pm\) 0.01 \\ BSC1-I & 2.61 \(\pm\) 0.03 & 1.34 \(\pm\) 0.03 & ND & 1.20 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 1.61 \(\pm\) 0.02 \\ BSC2-I & 2.51 \(\pm\) 0.01 & ND & ND & ND & 1.58 \(\pm\) 0.02 \\ BSC3-I & 2.61 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 1.21 \(\pm\) 0.03 & ND & 1.23 \(\pm\) 0.04 & 1.61 \(\pm\) 0.03 \\ BSC1-U & 2.72 \(\pm\) 0.03 & 1.04 \(\pm\) 0.04 & ND & 1.38 \(\pm\) 0.04 & 1.64 \(\pm\) 0.02 \\ BSC2-U & 2.51 \(\pm\) 0.04 & ND & ND & ND & 1.59 \(\pm\) 0.02 \\ BSC3-U & 2.91 \(\pm\) 0.03 & 1.14 \(\pm\) 0.05 & ND & 1.04 \(\pm\) 0.03 & 1.71 \(\pm\) 0.01 \\ BSC1-T & 2.13 \(\pm\) 0.02 & ND & ND & ND & 1.64 \(\pm\) 0.02 \\ BSC2-T & 2.61 \(\pm\) 0.02 & 1.01 \(\pm\) 0.07 & ND & 1.07 \(\pm\) 0.03 & 1.61 \(\pm\) 0.01 \\ BSC3-T & 2.82 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 1.11 \(\pm\) 0.03 & ND & 1.11 \(\pm\) 0.04 & 1.68 \(\pm\) 0.02 \\ Crackers & & & & & \\ BSC1-S & 2.68 \(\pm\) 0.03 & ND & ND & ND & 1.65 \(\pm\) 0.01 \\ BSCr2-S & 2.66 \(\pm\) 0.01 & ND & ND & 1.21 \(\pm\) 0.03 & 1.64 \(\pm\) 0.02 \\ BSCr3-S & 2.75 \(\pm\) 0.02 & 1.04 \(\pm\) 0.04 & ND & 1.02 \(\pm\) 0.04 & 1.67 \(\pm\) 0.01 \\ BSCr1-I & 2.57 \(\pm\) 0.02 & ND & ND & 1.32 \(\pm\) 0.02 & 1.61 \(\pm\) 0.02 \\ BSCr2-I & 2.59 \(\pm\) 0.01 & ND & ND & 1.34 \(\pm\) 0.03 & 1.62 \(\pm\) 0.03 \\ BSCr3-I & 2.92 \(\pm\) 0.04 & 1.14 \(\pm\) 0.04 & ND & 1.36 \(\pm\) 0.05 & 1.72 \(\pm\) 0.01 \\ BSCr1-U & 4.11 \(\pm\) 0.03 & 1.20 \(\pm\) 0.04 & ND & 1.25 \(\pm\) 0.04 & 2.33 \(\pm\) 0.02 \\ BSCr2-U & 3.90 \(\pm\) 0.03 & ND & ND & 1.20 \(\pm\) 0.03 & 2.29 \(\pm\) 0.02 \\ BSCr3-U & 2.80 \(\pm\) 0.04 & 1.11 \(\pm\) 0.08 & ND & 1.25 \(\pm\) 0.04 & 1.70 \(\pm\) 0.01 \\ BSCr1-T & 2.57 \(\pm\) 0.02 & ND & ND & ND & 1.60 \(\pm\) 0.03 \\ BSCr2-T & 2.72 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 1.04 \(\pm\) 0.03 & ND & 1.11 \(\pm\) 0.03 & 1.65 \(\pm\) 0.03 \\ BSCr3-T & 2.63 \(\pm\) 0.05 & 1.23 \(\pm\) 0.04 & ND & 1.25 \(\pm\) 0.04 & 1.63 \(\pm\) 0.02 \\ Digesives & & & & & \\ BSD1-S & 2.59 \(\pm\) 0.01 & ND & ND & ND & 1.61 \(\pm\) 0.03 \\ BSD2-S & 2.87 \(\pm\) 0.03 & 1.07 \(\pm\) 0.05 & ND & 1.01 \(\pm\) 0.04 & 1.70 \(\pm\) 0.02 \\ BSD3-S & 2.69 \(\pm\) 0.02 & ND & ND & ND & 1.65 \(\pm\) 0.01 \\ BSD1-I & 2.57 \(\pm\) 0.04 & ND & ND & 1.25 \(\pm\) 0.05 & 1.60 \(\pm\) 0.01 \\ BSD2-I & 2.63 \(\pm\) 0.02 & 1.23 \(\pm\) 0.03 & ND & 1.27 \(\pm\) 0.06 & 1.61 \(\pm\) 0.02 \\ BSD3-I & 2.62 \(\pm\) 0.03 & 1.16 \(\pm\) 0.03 & ND & 1.30 \(\pm\) 0.03 & 1.64 \(\pm\) 0.02 \\ \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 5: Microbial load (log cfu/g) of biscuits marketed in Basrah, Iraq. The total plate count (TPC) varied from 2.51 to 4.11 log cfu/g, without a significant effect by the variables \"Biscuit type\" and \"Country\" or by their first-order interaction. The International Commission on Microbiological Specifications for Microorganisms in Foods (ICMSF) states that a ready-to-eat food product has a good microbiological quality when its TPC is lower than 4 log cfu/g, while the microbiological quality is unsatisfactory when TPC exceeds 6 log cfu/g [76]. High TPC values indicate the presence of a mixed population of bacteria, including spoilage species [77]. The _Staphylococcus_ count ranged from ND to 1.34 log cfu/g without a significant effect by the variables \"Biscuit type\" and \"Country\" or by their first-order interaction. The yeast and mold count of biscuits, which was found in the range 1.61 to 2.33 log cfu/g, was not significantly affected by the variables \"Biscuit type\" and \"Country\" or by the interaction \"Biscuit type\"Country\".