microbiota, had a bias-factor of 0.77, and on average slightly underestimated the 15 mmax-values we obtained in studies of ground pork. Underestimations were most marked for the four results obtained at temperatures above 20 C (Fig. 2c). In regard to the secondary l-model, only 7 lag time durations were available for calculation of bias- and accuracy-factors as 10 of 17 growth curves had no lag phase. The bias-factor was 0.90 which classified the model as acceptable, whereas the accuracy-factor of 2.42 indicated poor precision of the model. However, using the mmax- and l-