ABSTRACT
The microbial integrity of raw materials (RMs) is critical to the success or failure of product manufacture and ongoing release of quality product. There are very few sterile RMs used in cosmetic manufacture. Moreover, many natural materials are often considered ‘‘bionutritional’’ to microorganisms and potentiate microbial survival and growth. Conversely, synthetic RMs generally contain low microbial counts due to the inherent characteristics such as extremes in pH and low water content, and chemical structure.
