Since October 12, 2019, we noticed a significant increase in high Individual Bacteria Count (IBC) test results for producers. Our goal is to only report samples which we believe are a true representation of a producer’s milk and we realized some samples were trending higher than they should have. We discovered that some of the high IBC test results were likely due to a refrigerant error, and thus staff has deleted those IBC test results, which we believe to be inaccurate (greater than 30,000 cells) for October 12 – 31, 2019.
The issue is not related to the testing lab, although the investigation is ongoing. We expect that going forward IBC test results will be accurate; however, we will update producers if the issue recurs.
Please note that although some IBC results were incorrectly trending higher, it is important for producers to continue to monitor and resolve any IBC challenges they may experience.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused and we pride ourselves in working with all stakeholders in the industry to ensure test results are accurate.
If you have questions or concerns about your specific test results, please don’t hesitate to contact Kelly Harris, Milk Quality Coordinator at 604‐854‐4479 or kharris@bcmilk.com.