The kinetics of the inactivation of Vibrio parahaemolyticus in sodium chlorite NaClO 2 solution was studied in the weakly acidic pH range of 4.0 to 6.5 and at various temperatures. The logarithmic reduction of the survival ratio depended on the concentration-time product, and all the inactivation curves showed a linear reduction phase. The first-order inactivation rate constant k increased by approximately twice for every 0.44 unit fall in pH. During the inactivation experiments, no formation of chlorine dioxide occurred. These data indicated that undissociated HClO 2 was the active species governing the inactivation of V. parahaemolyticus. It was also shown that the use of weakly acidic NaClO 2 solutions containing high concentrations of ionized ClO 2 -gave slower kinetics of the inactivation, whereas it could achieve the significant reduction of viable cells of more than 4-log. The k value showed an Arrhenius-type temperature dependence in the temperature range of 5 to 40 . The apparent activation energy for the inactivation of V. parahaemolyticus was estimated to be 43.5 kJ/mol. The k value increased by approximately 1.8 times for every 10 rise in temperature.