Microbiological criteria for foods
Project team: Phil Voysey
Running: Jan 2016 – Dec 2016
Project number: 138064
Proposal documentation
Acceptable levels of microorganisms in a foodstuff and the methods used to determine them are important aspects of any product specification. Campden BRI Guideline 52 was written to help food companies formulate a microbiological criterion. However, it does not give guidance on what microbiological criteria for different foods might look like. A small number of advisory guidance documents have been written by various bodies that suggest acceptable/unacceptable microbiological criteria for foodstuffs. These documents are extensively used throughout the food industry, but are now quite dated and were produced before EC Regulation 2073/2005 came into being. This Regulation contains microbiological limits for various foods which are set in law, and so it is essential that what it says is taken into account. The primary objective of the project will be to produce an up-to-date microbiological criterion guidance document, drawing together criteria from all available sources. The work will be guided and directed by a Consultative Group of interested companies.
Project outputs
- Project update: Meat and Poultry MIG – Sep 2016
- Guideline: Establishment and use of microbiological criteria - standards, specifications and guidelines - for food 2nd edn
- News article: Microbiological criteria for food and drink
- Project update: Microbiology MIG – Jan 2016