This paper presents a rapid catalase test for monitoring the aerobic microbial contamination associated with vegetables. The microbial loads of celery, bell pepper and ready-to-eat salad were serially tested over a 2-week period under common storage conditions. At each time point, samples were surface-sampled for catalase activity with a Pasteur pipette method in 5 min. Simultaneously, the aerobic viable microbial counts of the samples were determined using PCA, PIA and DRBC plates. It was found that the catalase activity (% gas produced) in the sample is positively correlated to the log concentration of aerobic bacteria and fungi. The catalase activity assay appears to be a fairly effective method for rapid assessment of aerobic microbial contamination on vegetables tested. The model based on the correlation between catalase activity and aerobic microbial loads was established and tested, with results that show accuracy of prediction at higher levels of contamination.