Following the high-profile, fatal listeriosis outbreak linked to Boar’s Head ready-to-eat (RTE) deli meats that prompted an internal review of USDA-FSIS processes, the agency has announced several new steps to strengthen its oversight of RTE facilities, including expanded Listeria rule requirements and stricter state-federal cooperative inspection agreements.
This episode of Food Safety Five covers a recent amendment made to the EU microbiological criteria for managing Listeria monocytogenes in certain ready-to-eat foods. Also discussed are recent pressures put on FDA to ban red dye 3 in foods.
This article explores the use of growth inhibitors into formulations for deli meats to mitigate Listeria monocytogenes contamination, and provides guidance for the various options of effective compounds, including clean-label ingredients, to reduce the risk of Listeria contamination in deli meats.
Salmonella illnesses in the U.S. in 2022 were attributed to a wide variety of foods, while Escherichia coli and Listeria monocytogenes infections were mostly linked to two or three food groups, according to the Interagency Food Safety Analytics Collaboration’s (IFSAC’s) latest foodborne illness source attribution report.
The EU One Health Zoonoses Report for 2023 shows that foodborne illnesses are rising in the EU, with listeriosis cases reaching their highest levels since 2007. Campylobacter, Salmonella, and Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) caused the greatest number of illnesses in 2023.
After a second Listeria monocytogenes strain related to clinical isolates was discovered through environmental and product testing, the patient count in the foodborne illness outbreak linked to Yu Shang ready-to-eat meat and poultry products has risen to 19, including an additional infant death.
A multistate foodborne outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes infections spanning more than two years has sickened 11 people and resulted in the death of an infant. The outbreak is linked to ready-to-eat (RTE) meat and poultry products from Yu Shang Food Inc.
The European Commission amended its regulation on the microbiological criteria for foods to revise the requirements for food business operators regarding Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat (RTE) foods.
A recent study found the majority of vegan meat and dairy alternatives available in England to be of satisfactory microbiological quality. Tofu from one producer had a Listeria problem.
Between 2017 and 2019, Canadian public health laboratories transitioned to whole genome sequencing (WGS) for foodborne illness outbreak surveillance. A recent study shows the positive impact of this transition of national outbreak detection and response for important foodborne pathogens.
