Final answer:
Option b) Disinfection is the process that kills most microorganisms, but not spores, using antimicrobial chemicals or heat.
Step-by-step explanation:
The process that kills most microorganisms but not necessarily spores is known as b) disinfection.
This process involves the use of antimicrobial chemicals or heat to inactivate microbes on the surface of a fomite. While disinfection is effective against many types of microorganisms, it does not achieve the complete removal or killing of all vegetative cells, endospores, and viruses that sterilization does. Moreover, disinfection does not lead to sterilization, as endospores are known to survive this process, hence the disinfected item is not considered sterile. Pasteurization and sanitization are other forms of microbial control, but they either don't render the food sterile or simply reduce microbes to safe levels, instead of killing them completely.