title: Software for predictive microbiology and risk assessment: a description and comparison of tools presented at the ICPMF8 Software Fair.
abstract: The 8th International Conference on Predictive Modelling in Food was held in Paris, France in September 2013. One of the major topics of this conference was the transfer of knowledge and tools between academics and stakeholders of the food sector. During the conference, a "Software Fair" was held to provide information and demonstrations of predictive microbiology and risk assessment software. This article presents an overall description of the 16 software tools demonstrated at the session and provides a comparison based on several criteria such as the modeling approach, the different modules available (e.g. databases, predictors, fitting tools, risk assessment tools), the studied environmental factors (temperature, pH, aw, etc.), the type of media (broth or food) and the number and type of the provided micro-organisms (pathogens and spoilers). The present study is a guide to help users select the software tools which are most suitable to their specific needs, before they test and explore the tool(s) in more depth.
authors.affiliation: CNIEL, Centre National Interprofessionnel de l'Economie Laitière (French Dairy Board), Technical and Scientific Department, 42 rue du Châteaudun, 75009 Paris, France. Electronic address: ftenenhaus@cniel.com.
authors.forename: Fanny
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tenenhaus-Aziza
authors.affiliation: IFIP, French Institute for Pig and Pork Products, Fresh and Processed Meats Department, 7 Avenue du Général de Gaulle, 94704 Maisons Alfort, France. Electronic address: mariem.ellouze@ifip.asso.fr.
authors.forename: Mariem
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ellouze
mesh_terms: D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis*; D005516:Food Microbiology / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D008954:Models, Biological; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012984:Software
keywords: Predictive microbiology; Risk assessment; Software