Fifteen strains of Carnobacterium divergens and Carnobacterium piscicola, isolated from different meat products, were differentiated from Carnobacterium gallinarum and Carnobacterium mobile by numerical analysis of total soluble cell protein patterns. This technique proved more reliable than conventional physiological and biochemical tests and grouped a genetically heterogeneous collection of species with low DNA homology values (less than 25%) into well-defined clusters.