International Perspectives for Microbiological Sampling and Testing of Foods ¹

The 3-class acceptance plan, developed by the International Commission on Microbiological Specifications for Foods (ICMSF), is an important innovation which, by accommodating a tolerable number of microbiological values that may appear to exceed an ideal limit, recognizes normal distribution ranges and thereby removes a major prejudice against the use of microbiological criteria for appraising food quality. The plan has gained wide acceptance in the 7 years since it was proposed and will likely be even more broadly accepted in the future. Three-class plans are used in official standards or in working guidelines in several countries and in recommended microbiological specifications in Codex codes of hygienic practice for egg products, foods for infants and children, and pre-cooked shrimps and prawns. This paper explains the principles of the 3-class acceptance plan and provides information on the structure and function of the ICMSF.