Supported by the Center for Produce Safety (CPS), Cornell researchers are developing a quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) model to evaluate how quality defects affect Listeria and E. coli growth on produce, helping identify effective interventions and improve processes.
This episode covers the final findings from the U.S. Cyclospora outbreak, new USDA efforts to address Listeria, the new FDA Food Code, research on high-pressure processing for raw chicken, and emerging food safety concerns associated with plastic pollution.
The program, which was explored after the Boar’s Head outbreak of 2024 spurred the agency to reevaluate its inspection and Listeria monitoring protocols, was piloted in FY 2026 and will be expanded to FSIS districts nationwide.
This article explores how rapid detection technologies are transforming environmental monitoring programs for L. monocytogenes in dairy plants. It also discusses how faster detection supports quicker sanitation verification, improved risk-based monitoring, and more effective decision-making during contamination events.
In an analysis of a Listeria monocytogenes outbreak in which one person died, UKHSA highlighted investigation details, risk assessment and control measures, and the potential risks associated with home-delivered cook-chill meals.
Participants argued that reductions in listeriosis will require implementation of fundamental preventive controls, true “seek and destroy” efforts, and risk-based approaches. Dose-response models suggesting that low contamination may confer low risk were also discussed.
Longer application times, shorter nozzle distances, and spray patterns that deliver sufficient physical force to surfaces may contribute to improved microbial reduction. Sanitizer efficacy experiments could misrepresent real-world sanitation outcomes when shear stress and application time are not considered.
This episode of Food Safety Five discusses new research on avocado oil authenticity in processed foods, the effects of nanoplastics on bacterial biofilms in drinking water systems, factors influencing Listeria monocytogenes persistence on plastic food contact surfaces, and stress-adaptation traits that may help E. coli persist from farm to fork.
The findings suggest that pathogen persistence on plastic food contact surfaces is governed by the combined effects of material composition, engineered surface topography, and microbial ecology rather than any single factor.
A new hypothesis suggests Listeria monocytogenes persists by colonizing nutrient-rich voids left behind when Gram-negative bacterial biofilms disperse. If the theory is validated, the authors suggest shifting food safety strategies toward managing biofilm ecology and ecological succession, rather than focusing solely on pathogen detection.
