Abstract
End-product microbiological testing is rarely required in US food safety regulations. However, as foodborne illness headlines continue to proliferate so do calls from consumer advocacy groups and politicians for regulatory mandates requiring such testing. While end-product microbial testing may appear to be a prudent approach toward ensuring food safety, it is generally understood and accepted by food safety scientists that this alone is not a reliable means for assuring the absence of microbial pathogens due to statistical sampling and technical limitations that must be recognized. Presented here are details on those few regulations that do mandate testing regimens and those regulatory platforms that, while not mandating testing, are best fulfilled by specified uses of the practice.
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Stone, W.E. (2014). Regulatory Testing Guidelines and Recommendations. In: Gurtler, J., Doyle, M., Kornacki, J. (eds) The Microbiological Safety of Low Water Activity Foods and Spices. Food Microbiology and Food Safety(). Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2062-4_18
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