Nestlé Research Center (NRC), Lusanne, is the central advanced research facility of Nestlé. NRC has a permanent staff of close to 700, including over 300 scientists. Its role is to help fulfill Nestlé's vision of making good food central to enjoying a good healthy life for consumers everywhere. This implies gaining a deeper understanding in many areas of nutrition and food research and transforming the scientific advances into applications for the company. The NRC Microbiological Safety Group is active in two major research areas: Development and evaluation of analytical methods for detection of food pathogens and spoilage microorganisms, and development and evaluation of processes to control the contamination of foods with undesirable microorganisms, including the validation of HACCP plans, exposure assessment, predictive modelling, emerging pathogens, etc. Recent subjects covered by the NRC Microbiological Safety Group include Enterobacter sakazakii, foodborne viruses, Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis, Clostridium botulinum, ochratoxin producing moulds, microbiological quality of factory water, etc. (John Marugg)