Assessment of the process quality by examination of the final product 1. Assessment of the raw material

Whereas during the eighties and nineties monitoring and controlling of the process steps was favoured, in the last years traceability, which means the investigation of the history of a foodstuff, has attached importance in an increasing extent. The hygienic quality of the raw material can be detected in heated meat products by means of non viable bacterial count carried out preferably by the so-called "Direct epifluorescence technique" (DEFT), and by measuring of the content of metabolic products of micro-organisms such as biogenic amines. In the case of raw fermented sausages the latter one is the only method to retrace the hygienic condition of the raw material within certain limits.