In a recent study published in the Journal of Dairy Science, researchers from Cornell University have demonstrated the inadequacy of an industry standard quality test for raw, organic milk, as it cannot sufficiently differentiate between groups of bacteria.
The test evaluated in the study is called Laboratory Pasteurization Count (LPC), which some dairy processors and cooperatives use to troubleshoot bacterial contamination issues and to designate premiums for high raw milk quality. Despite occasionally being used as a proxy for levels of bacterial spores in raw milk, there is limited knowledge of the types of organisms that are enumerated by LPC in contemporary raw milk supplies. Little research has been done on LPC in the past two decades.