Optimization of water activity calculation in different food products and comparison with average results from an inter-laboratory trial

Micro-organisms, food characteristics and processes are major components involved in the quality and safety of food products. Physico-chemical properties of food (ie. water activity, pH, temperature ...) influence micro-organisms behaviour and are key factors to estimate consequences of changes in food products formulations using predictive microbiology programs such as Sym’Previus (www.symprevius.org). To improve models results, knowledge based on different parameters must be provided.