The distribution of log counts at a given time during the exponential growth phase of Listeria innocua measured in food samples inoculated with one cell each was applied to estimate the distribution of the single-cell lag times. Three replicate experiments in broth showed that the distribution of the log counts is a linear mapping of the distribution of the detection times measured by optical density. The detection time distribution reflects the lag time distribution but is shifted in time. The log count distribution was applied to estimate the distributions of the lag times in a liquid dairy product and in liver paté after different heat treatments. Two batches of ca. 100 samples of the dairy product were inoculated and heated at 55 degrees C for 45 min or at 62 degrees C for 2 min, and an unheated batch was incubated at 4 degrees C. The final concentration of surviving bacteria was ca. 1 cell per sample. The unheated cells showed the shortest lag times with the smallest variance. The mean and the variance of the lag times of the surviving cells at 62 degrees C were greater than those of the cells treated at 55 degrees C. Three batches of paté samples were heated at 55 degrees C for 25 min, 62 degrees C for 81 s, or 65 degrees C for 20 s. A control batch was inoculated but not heated. All paté samples were incubated at 15 degrees C. The distribution of the lag times of the cells heated at 55 degrees C was not significantly different from that of the unheated cells. However, at the higher temperatures, 62 degrees C and 65 degrees C, the lag duration was longer and its variance greater.