Food Safety & Regulation
A food with an equilibrium pH above 4.6 and water activity above 0.85, capable of supporting Clostridium botulinum growth.
The reason canned vegetables and meats need pressure sterilisation, while naturally more acidic canned tomatoes or pickles can be processed more simply.
An anaerobic, spore-forming bacterium producing botulinum neurotoxin. Proteolytic types do not grow below pH 4.6, aw 0.94 or 10 °C.
The commercial sterility standard for low-acid canned food: a heat process delivering twelve decimal reductions of Clostridium botulinum spores.
A mild heat treatment that destroys vegetative pathogens and reduces spoilage organisms, without eliminating spores. Milk: LTLT 63 °C for 30 min, or HTST 72 °C for 15 s.
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