Second Edition, May 2017 - Pasteurization is a heat treatment aimed at reducing the number of harmful microorganisms to a level at which they do not constitute a significant health hazard. There are however many reasons why, in practice pasteurized products may present a microbiological health hazard. Due to the pasteurizer process design, the operation and control or inspection and maintenance of the pasteurizer there are a risk of unpasteurized or recontaminated product may reach the consumer. This document provides guidelines to avoid these issues.