Posted: April 11th, 2012 - 12:22pm
Source: Meatingplace

In this article:
Listeria thrust into spotlight
7 changes that have fostered a food safety culture
Its current status
Conclusion
Editor’s note: This is the fourth article in a five-part series analyzing the most prevalent pathogen-food combinations in the United States. Using CDC and USDA data, researchers at the University of Florida’s Emerging Pathogens Institute identified – for the first time – which pathogens and which foods cause the most illness in the United States. The series is exploring the following five pathogen-food combinations: campylobacter in poultry; toxoplasma in pork; toxoplasma in beef; listeria in deli meats; and salmonella in poultry. Each article offers strategic insights into the food safety issue of each of those five combinations, identifying what makes them such a threat – and offering solutions to combat them.
Listeria is a bacterium commonly found in the environment, on our hands, and in our refrigerators. It can thrive in the cold, moist environment commonly found in refrigerators and processing environments, although pasteurization and cooking will destroy it. Listeria monocytogenes, an environmental bacterium, may recontaminate cooked food as it is being packaged, handled or distributed.
Most people are routinely exposed to Listeria with no health consequences. L. monocytogenes, however, is extremely virulent. Infections can lead to the very serious disease, listeriosis, particularly among at-risk populations, including pregnant women, newborns, the elderly and those who are immunocompromised.
Listeria thrust into spotlight
After a deadly outbreak in the late 1990s, the ready-to-eat (RTE) meat and poultry industry redoubled their efforts prevent Listeria contamination. Since 2000, the L. monocytogenes prevalence rate in RTE meat and poultry products has dropped 80 percent to less than one third of one percent. It is also noteworthy that there have been no recalls of RTE meat or poultry products triggered by a listeriosis outbreak since 2002.
The meat and poultry industry controls L. monocytogenes in fully cooked meat and poultry products by achieving a validated lethality step. This lethality step is combined an aggressive environmental control and sanitation program that prevents L. monocytogenes growth in equipment and the environment within the cooked products area of the plant.
7 changes that have fostered a food safety culture
In the last decade the RTE meat and poultry industry has made a series of changes that have fostered a culture of food safety.
• RTE industries are looking for the microorganisms as companies have embraced the “seek and destroy” philosophy of testing the environment for Listeria spp. This preventive mode of operation allows companies to react and put corrective actions in place before contamination spreads to contact surface sites.
• Engineers, food safety experts, and manufacturing personnel have spent the last decade redesigning equipment that can withstand the rigorous RTE environment conditions, reduce niches, and be easily and effectively cleaned.
• Changes in production facilities have occurred as they have been redesigned to reduce niches, prevent the spread of contamination, and be effectively cleaned.
• Products have been reformulated to include growth inhibitors.
• New interventions and processes have been developed that add additional food safety hurdles during production.
• Companies follow strict protocols for sanitation and pre-op inspection. Deep cleaning is scheduled frequently, as well as heat treating equipment to destroy any growth in niches.
• Employee training is stressed as fundamental for success. General employee and Sanitation Operator Training programs are clearly defined and effectively communicate the process requirements necessary to maintain microbiological control. This training is ongoing with new and seasoned employees.
This type of control program is one part of a comprehensive food safety process management system that is continuously verified. These concepts are the core of the meat and poultry industry’s preventive food safety system for L. monocytogenes.
Its current status
Listeriosis is very rare. Of the estimated 48 million foodborne illnesses that CDC estimates occur each year, listeriosis accounts for a tiny fraction of illnesses (0.017 percent), 2.6 percent of foodborne illness-related hospitalizations and 19 percent of foodborne disease-related deaths.
Keeping in mind that the CDC data capture all foods – not just RTE meat and poultry – the data for L. monocytogenes, however, also show that the number of human illness have remained unchanged at 0.3 incidence per 100,000 people since 2000, despite the changes made by the RTE meat and poultry industry.
That statistic is disturbing when you consider CDC estimates that 19% of foodborne associated deaths can be attributed to L. monocytogenes and have not been any FSIS recalls due to a listeriosis outbreak since 2002.
To better understand the current risk of RTE food, the FDA/FSIS Interagency Retail L. monocytogenes Risk Assessment group will be releasing a risk assessment of L. monocytogenes in the retail environment. Preliminary findings of this risk assessment are anticipated in late 2012.
Conclusion
FSIS followed the APA notice and comment rulemaking process when it developed the L. monocytogenes regulations a decade ago. This open and transparent notice and comment policy process provided the opportunity for all interested parties to give their perspective, which FSIS considered when crafting the current regulatory scheme. This inclusive, comprehensive, and transparent process is was a significant contributing factor to the last decade of success in reducing the L. monocytogenes profile in RTE meat and poultry products.
As the industry addresses emerging food safety issues and considers regulatory paths, the model that should be followed is the one of collaboration between regulators, the RTE industry and other allied stakeholders. In controlling L. monocytogenes, the model's effectiveness is proven.