Ready-to-eat

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Fresh prepared foods (FPF)—convenient grab-and-go and deli items that are sold at grocery stores—increased in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Demand for these goods has remained strong, driving an increased focus on, and need for, food safety for FPF. 

A study has identified significant deficiencies in existing quantitative risk assessment models for Listeria monocytogenes on produce, such as failure to consider important contamination factors in primary production, among other gaps.

The European Commission has proposed amendments to EU regulations regarding allowable levels of Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat (RTE) foods to apply to additional food business operators along the supply chain.

The European Commission recently made changes to the maximum levels of the mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON) in food with Commission Regulation (EU) 2024/1022, amending Regulation (EU) 2023/915.

A recent study conducted by scientists from the Quadram Institute and the UK Health Security Agency has revealed that, despite cleaning, Listeria monocytogenes are able to persist in ready-to-eat (RTE) food production environments, supported by diverse bacterial populations that also remain stable over time.

A recent study conducted by veterinary and agronomic researchers from Lusófona University in Portugal has provided a new One Health perspective on food safety in ready-to-eat (RTE) produce, with a focus on the challenges related to microbiological contamination in minimally processed fruits and vegetables.

A European multi-country foodborne illness outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes, in which ready-to-eat (RTE) fish is the suspected cause, has resulted in two deaths.

A new food safety management standard in the Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) Safe Food Australia Code will come into effect for foodservice and retail businesses on December 8, 2023.

Based on the results of a recent Clostridium perfringens Market Basket Study, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA’s FSIS) has concluded that the guidance currently being used for the cooling of large-mass, non-intact ready-to-eat (RTE) meat and poultry products is adequate and does not merit revision.

The U.S. and Canada are melting pots of cultures, and one of the most evident expressions of this diversity can be found in the variety of ethnic foods available in markets. While the influx of these foods has brought new and exciting flavors to North American palates, it has also brought the risk of new microbial hazards.