ABSTRACT
Ready-to-eat (RTE) foods are usually processed food products that can be consumed without any further bactericidal treatment (e.g., heating) or preparation step, except for thawing (Jaroni et al. 2010). The EC Regulation No. 2073/2005 (Amd. No. 1441/2007) on “microbiological criteria for foodstuffs” denes “ready-to-eat foods” as “food for direct human consumption without the need for cooking or other processing effective to eliminate or reduce to an acceptable level of microorganisms of concern.” Certain types of RTE food such as minced meat served as steak tartare or foods needing a simple warm-up step (Dufour 2010) are not included in this denition. This regulation concerns all food business operators’ (FBOs’) processing, manufacturing, handling, and distribution of food, including retail and catering.
