A total of 178 coagulase-positive staphylococcal isolates were analyzed during investigation of 31 SFPO that occurred between 1981 and 2002 in various French cities of mainly two areas: Ile-de-France (12 SFPO) and Aquitaine (8 SFPO). Brief epidemiological information were collected for each SFPO (Table 1). Most of the isolates were from suspected food samples analyzed by AFSSA-Lerqap according to the standard methods AFNOR NF VO8-057 Part 1 or Part 2 which are based on the EN ISO methods 6888-1 and -2 for the enumeration of coagulase-positive staphylococci in foods (De Buyser et al., 2003). Various isolates from clinical or food samples were provided by other French laboratories.