An active package, obtained from nisin-treated film, was filled with 1 l of M. luteus ATCC10240 (ML) suspension in TSB and stored at 4 and 25C for 2 days. After 24 h at 25C there was a remarkable reduction of M. luteus ATCC 10240 compared with the control, while at 4C a slight reduction was observed.Moreover, microbial growth was controlled when 1 l of three different kinds of milk was poured into the active package and stored at 4C for 7 days. The most significant results were observed in raw milk and pasteurized milk with a reduction of 0Æ9 log and 1Æ3 log, respectively. The release experiments showed that nisin release from the film was unpredictable, but it was favoured by low pH and high temperature