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Introduction The International Commission on Microbiological Specifications for Foods (ICMSF) has proposed a preventative scheme for managing microbial risks in foods that introduces the important new concept of a food safety objective (FSO). The FSO concept translates public health risk into a definable goal: a specified maximum frequency and/or concentration of a [microbiological] hazard in a food at the time of consumption, which is deemed to provide an appropriate level of health protection (1). The approach enables the food industry to meet a specific FSO by the application of the principles of Good Hygienic Practice (GHP), Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) systems, performance criteria, process/product criteria and/or acceptance criteria. It provides a scientific basis that allows industry to select and implement measures that control the hazard of concern in a specific food or food operation. The concept also enables regulators to better develop and implement inspection procedures to assess the adequacy of control measures implemented by industry, and to quantify the equivalence of inspection procedures in different countries. Thus, the practical value of using the FSO concept is that it offers flexibility of operation: it does not prescribe how an operation achieves compliance, it defines the goal. Establishing a FSO for a specific hazard requires the evaluation of the public health risk associated with the hazard in a food, which may be derived by advice from a few specialists, by larger expert panels, or by conducting a quantitative risk assessment are described.