1. Introduction
Changing life styles-including more convenience foods for onthego consumption had as a consequence a broad range of
emerging microbiological issues in food safety. In food service establishments,
in addition to refrigerated ready-to-eat (RTE) foods
(like sandwiches and desserts) are provided to the consumers hotheld
products mainly oven baked pastries which are prepared from
frozen pastries (ready-to-bake) heat processed at the point of sale.
Ready-to-bake frozen pastries occupy an increasingly great portion
of the food market covering sectors such as institutional and
catering businesses, supermarkets, and restaurants (Kennedy,
2000). They are subjected to prolonged storage under freezing
conditions before baking. These products are characterized by
quick preparation time and look and taste as if they are freshly
made. Although the market of frozen bakery products has been
increased in the last years, the safety issues of the products have not
been studied extensively.