The control of food safety in modern food processing relies upon HACCP
and other systems that identify hazards and define processes to control
them. These demand a thorough understanding of the properties of
microbial pathogens under all the conditions that could be found in
foods and the food processing environment. Detailed information about
each of the main organisms responsible for causing microbial food
poisoning is presented here in an accessible and systematic way. An
overview of key properties for each organism is followed by a series of
tables detailing the response of the organism under a range of variable
conditions. This information has been prepared by the International
Commission for the Microbiological Specifications of Foods (ICMSF).