High pressure treatment in relation to quantitative risk assessment

The role of modelling inactivation by pressure is put into the context of q uantitative risk assessment (QRA) in order to determine which micro-organis ms should be studied and what inactivation factor is required. This factor is one element in the whole sequence of events from raw materials to consum ption. This should finally lead to an acceptable risk. To determine the req uired inactivation factor the kinetics of pressure inactivation should be k nown. In high pressure treatments temperature effects play almost always a role and they are often difficult to predict due to a combination of adiaba tic heat and heat dissipation. Therefore robust models are necessary by whi ch inactivation due to the combined effects of pressure and temperature is described accurately. To describe inactivation by pressure, distribution mo dels are satisfactory as shown here.