Technical reference
Each has . A food is safe to hold without refrigeration only where one or more hurdles stop all relevant organisms, not merely the best known.
Parameters
| Water activity (aw) | Water available to microbes, from 0 to 1 |
|---|---|
| pH | Acidity; low growth |
| Coldest-growing here | Yersinia −1.3 °C; −0.4 °C; C. botulinum non-proteolytic 3.3 °C |
| Hottest-growing here | 55 °C (delayed); 52 °C; 50 °C |
| Toxin | toxin: 0.85, from 10 °C |
Records that prove it
- pH and water activity results
- Shelf-life validation
- Temperature history
- Process and packaging specification
Where each pathogen can grow
Extreme reported in the literature, with other conditions favourable. They may not apply to your food or process. Source: , Table A-1.
Maximum cumulative exposure
Bacillus cereus4 to 6 °C5 days7 to 15 °C1 day16 to 21 °C6 hoursAbove 21 °C3 hours
Clostridium perfringens10 to 12 °C21 days13 to 14 °C1 day15 to 21 °C6 hours*Above 21 °C2 hours
Listeria monocytogenes−0.4 to 5 °C7 days6 to 10 °C1 day11 to 21 °C7 hours22 to 30 °C3 hoursAbove 30 °C1 hour
Salmonella species5.2 to 10 °C2 days11 to 21 °C5 hoursAbove 21 °C2 hours
Staphylococcus aureus7 to 10 °C14 days11 to 21 °C12 hours*Above 21 °C3 hours
FDA guidance written for fish and fishery products, shown here as a worked example of how combine. * See the source's footnotes. Source: , Table A-2.
CCP or prerequisite?
That depends on the for your process. The number, if it has one, belongs to your plan.