Safer foods will come from better process control, not more tests.
RECENTLY THERE HAVE BEEN SIGNIFIcant documents published on Listeria monocytogenes and ready-to-eat (RTE) foods. The most far-reaching of these is the new USDA/FSIS regulation on Control of Listeria monocytogenes in Ready-to-Eat Meat and Poultry. The ruling calls for all meat and poultry establishments producing RTE products that are exposed to the environment after cooking to develop written programs to control Listeria monocytogenes and to verify the effectiveness of those programs through testing. Testing data and plant-generated information relevant to their controls also must be shared with FSIS. The rule also encourages all plants to employ additional and more effective Listeria monocytogenes measures listed below.
1. Plants must employ both a post-lethality treatment and a growth inhibitor for Listeria monocytogenes on RTE products.