Fish meals, added to feeds as a source of protein, may contain pathogenic bacteria.Therefore, effective methods for their sanitizing,
such as UV-C radiation, are needed to minimize the epidemiological risk. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect
of UV-C radiation on the sanitary state of fish meals. The research materials included salmon and cod meals. Samples of the fish
meals were inoculated with suspensions of Salmonella, E. coli, enterococci, and C. sporogenes spores and exposed to the following
surface UV-C fluencies: 0–400 J⋅m−2 for bacteria and 0–5000 J⋅m−2 for spores. For the vegetative forms, the highest theoretical
lethal UV-C dose, ranging from 670.99 to 688.36 J⋅m−2 depending on the meal type, was determined for Salmonella. The lowest
UV-C fluency of 363.34–363.95 J⋅m−2 was needed for the inactivation of Enterococcus spp. Spores were considerablymore resistant,
and the UV-C doses necessary for inactivation were 159571.1 J⋅m−2 in salmon meal and 66836.9 J⋅m−2 in cod meal. The application
of UV-C radiation for the sanitization of fish meals proved to be a relatively effective method for vegetative forms of bacteria but
was practically ineffective for spores.