This code covers low-acid refrigerated foods that are heat treated1 and are susceptible to outgrowth of pathogenic microorganisms during their extended shelf-life. The foods which the provisions of this code addresses are products that: · are intended to be refrigerated during their shelf life to retard or prevent the proliferation of undesirable microorganisms; · have an extended shelf life of more than 5 days2 ; · are heat treated or processed using other treatments to reduce their original microbiological population; · are low acid, that is, with pH > 4.6 and have high water activity aw > 0.92; · may use hurdles in addition to heat or other treatments and refrigeration, to retard or prevent the proliferation of undesirable microorganisms; · are packaged, not necessarily hermetically, before or after processing (heat or other preservation treatments); · may or may not require heating prior to consumption. Examples of such products are: · cooked refrigerated ready to eat meals, · cooked refrigerated ready to eat meats, poultry, seafood and their products, sauces, dips, vegetables, soups, egg products, pasta, ... This Code excludes: raw foods, frozen foods, low acid canned foods, acid and acidified foods stored at ambient temperature, smoked fish, milk and milk products, yellow fats and fat spreads. It should be noted that this code is not intended to cover products such as: fermented meats and meat products, cured meats and meat products (including poultry), fermented vegetables, dried and/or salted fish and meats. In addition, it excludes those food products for which there is a specific Codex Alimentarius Code of Practice. Foods that contain one or more ingredients that are excluded and one or more ingredients that are included are covered by this Code.