Microbiological testing is a critical component of food safety and quality management programs, but traditional methods may fail to answer deeper investigative questions (e.g., Where did this organism come from? Do these elevated counts actually pose a risk to my product?). Without clarity on these points, interpreting results and identifying appropriate corrective or investigative actions can be challenging. This session will explore how advanced molecular approaches, including molecular subtyping, whole-genome sequencing (WGS) and metagenomics, can support more informed decision-making during root-cause investigations. Real-world examples will illustrate how molecular subtyping and WGS can help distinguish persistent contamination from one-off events during environmental investigations, and how metagenomics can bring clarity to ambiguous spoilage issues or out-of-specification microbial counts.