1.Food business operators shall ensure that foodstuffs comply with the relevant microbiological criteria set out in Annex I. To this end the food business operators at each stage of food production, processing and distribution, including retail, shall take measures, as part of their procedures based on HACCP principles together with the implementation of good hygiene practice, to ensure the following:
(a)that the supply, handling and processing of raw materials and foodstuffs under their control are carried out in such a way that the process hygiene criteria are met,
(b)that the food safety criteria applicable throughout the shelf-life of the products can be met under reasonably foreseeable conditions of distribution, storage and use.
2.As necessary, the food business operators responsible for the manufacture of the product shall conduct studies in accordance with Annex II in order to investigate compliance with the criteria throughout the shelf-life. In particular, this applies to ready-to-eat foods that are able to support the growth of Listeria monocytogenes and that may pose a Listeria monocytogenes risk for public health.
Food businesses may collaborate in conducting those studies.
Guidelines for conducting those studies may be included in the guides to good practice referred to in Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004.