ILSI Europe Report Series. 2010:1-64
Not much is known about how microorganisms are physically distributed in foods, yet these distributions determine both the likelihood that a foodstuff will cause illness and the consequential public health burden. When food is sampled in an effort to reduce the risk of causing illness, the effectiveness of the sampling programme is related to the spatial distribution of the microorganisms that are being sampled for. In the absence of exact knowledge, generalising assumptions are often made as to the nature of the distributions. Better insight into the actual microbiological distributions may help to improve food safety management decision-making.
This document discusses mechanisms impacting on physical distributions of microorganisms in foods, characteristics and suitability of frequency distributions employed to model microbial distributions, and the impact of both physical and frequency distributions on illness risk and food safety management criteria. It examines the more common frequency distributions used and evaluates their strengths and weaknesses for modelling real situations against specific criteria.
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