Food Standards Australia New Zealand: Microbiological testing can play an important role in food safety management providing the reason for testing is clear and the test applied is appropriate.

Microbiological criteria support decision making about a food or process when microbiological testing is used. A microbiological criterion provides microbiological limits that are considered appropriate to a food at a specific point of the food chain and states the actions to be taken when the criterion is not met. The Compendium of Microbiological Criteria for Food is a compilation of process hygiene criteria that have been established for specific food commodities and microbiological guideline criteria used for ready-to-eat foods.

Read the full article at the Food Standards Australia New Zealand website