The paper summarized the factors that negatively affect the microbiological quality of colostrum. The spectrum of pathogens was also introduced (skin and environmental microorganisms, faecal contamination and mammary gland pathogens). The thresholds of total plate count (TPC), total coliform count (TCC) and total non-coliform count (TNCC) were introduced. The preliminary results show that 86.4 % of samples didn’t meet the limit for TPC. In the case of primiparous cows it was 71.9 % of samples. The specification of critical points of possible contamination was emphasized – housing and milking hygiene, sanitation of containers and methods of short-term and long-term colostrum storage.