Tag Archives: listeria

Listeria – Safeguarding Food Operation

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Listeria – Safeguarding Your Food Operation

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The following webinar is presented by Dr. Bob Strong, instructor for SAI Global, and a driving force in food safety operations in the area of GMP – Good Manufacturing Practices.

SAI Global Webinar on guarding you food operations from listeria.

Listeria Monocytogens

This is a genus of bacteria that, until 1992, contained 10 known species, each containing two subspecies. As of 2014, another five species were identified.

This bacteria is incredibly difficult to track: When people eat food that’s tainted by Listeria, the incubation period varies from 3 to 70 days.

Listeria is the name of a bacteria found in soil and water and some animals, including poultry and cattle. It can be present in raw milk and foods made from raw milk. It can also live in food processing plants and contaminate a variety of processed meats.

Listeria is unique among many other germs because it can grow even in the cold temperature of the refrigerator. It can be killed by cooking and pasteurization.

Listeria Sources
Ready-to-eat deli meats and hot dogs
Refrigerated pâtés or meat spreads
Unpasteurized (raw) milk and dairy products
Soft cheese made with unpasteurized milk, such as queso fresco, Feta, Brie, Camembert
Refrigerated smoked seafood
Raw sprouts

Symptoms of Infection
Fever, stiff neck, confusion, weakness, vomiting, sometimes preceded by diarrhea.

If you are very ill with fever or stiff neck, consult your doctor immediately. Antibiotics given promptly can cure the infection and, in pregnant women, can prevent infection of the fetus.

Preventing Listeria Infection

Do not drink raw (unpasteurized) milk, and do not eat foods that have unpasteurized milk in them.

Wash hands, knives, countertops, and cutting boards after handling and preparing uncooked foods.

Rinse raw produce thoroughly under running tap water before eating.

Keep uncooked meats, poultry, and seafood separate from vegetables, fruits, cooked foods, and ready-to-eat foods.

Thoroughly cook raw food from animal sources, such as meat, poultry, or seafood to a safe internal temperature.

Consume perishable and ready-to-eat foods as soon as possible.

Persons in higher risk groups should heat hot dogs, cold cuts, and deli meats before eating them.

CDC Definition and consideration

USDA Information about this



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The Growing Need To Control Listeria

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In 2010, Listeria monocytogenes was estimated to infect 23,150 people worldwide. It killed 5,463 of them, or 23.6 percent, according to a new study by European researchers in the World Health Organization (WHO) published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

The researchers say that an urgent effort is needed to fill in information on Listeria infections in developing countries, as countries accounting for 48 percent of the world’s population do not report Listeria illnesses.

The study, ”The Global Burden of Listeriosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis” aimed to be the first of its kind to estimate the global numbers of illnesses, deaths, and disability-adjusted life-years due to Listeria infections.

While not as common as foodborne pathogens such as Salmonella and E. coli, Listeria is one of the most deadly and adaptable bacteria found in food. Unlike those pathogens, Listeria can grow at refrigeration temperatures and in low-moisture environments.

Of those who fell ill with Listeria in 2010, 20.7 percent were pregnant women. The bacteria affect pregnant women at disproportionate rates and can cause severe complications with pregnancies, including stillbirth and miscarriage.

Among the pregnant women who suffered Listeria infections, 14.9 percent of the infections resulted in infant fatality.

Other populations especially susceptible to Listeria infections include the elderly, immunocompromised individuals, and children. While the bacteria often just cause mild gastrointestinal illness in healthy adults, they can lead to severe, life-threatening illness in anyone with a weakened or developing immune system.

Most Listeria cases are reported in high-income countries, while cases are much more likely to go unreported in developing countries. Because of its high hospitalization rate in the U.S., it’s the third most costly foodborne pathogen, behind Clostridium botulinum (botulism) and Vibrio vulnificus.

The researchers found that Listeria caused the highest burden on quality of life in Latin American regions. The least affected region was Eastern Europe, stretching from Poland to Turkey. Other highly affected areas included Southeast Asia, Africa, Polynesia and India.

The researchers note that Listeria causes significantly fewer deaths worldwide than Salmonella Typhi (216,500 annual deaths) or non-typhoidal Salmonella (155,000), but it does cause a far higher rate of death.

The effort to quantify the global burden of Listeria will enable Listeriosis to be an included disease in WHO’s international prioritization exercises. But because nearly half of the world’s population resides in countries where Listeria isn’t reported, there’s still significant uncertainty about the exact burden the bacteria pose worldwide.

In 2011, cantaloupe contaminated with Listeria infected at least 147 people in the U.S. and killed at least 33, making it one of the deadliest foodborne illness outbreaks in U.S. history. A Listeria outbreak in Denmark this year killed at least 15 people and sickened 38.

Common sources of Listeria in the U.S. include ready-to-eat lunch deli meats, hot dogs, meat spreads, unpasteurized dairy, smoked seafood and raw sprouts.

DNA Decoding of Listeria

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Scientists are decoding the DNA of listeria in a pilot program to improve the identification and understanding of food borne illnesses. DNA decoding has long been used to diagnose rare diseases, to predict your risks of cancer, and to tell of your ancestry. But is has never been used in food safety before. DNA sequencing is now cheaper and faster than before making this a viable option.

The initial target is listeria, the third leading cause of death from food poisonining.

Listeria can be found in soil, which can lead to vegetable contamination. Animals can also be carriers. Listeria has been found in uncooked meats, uncooked vegetables, fruit such as cantaloupes,pasteurized or unpasteurized milk, foods made from milk, and processed foods. Pasteurization and sufficient cooking kill Listeria; however, contamination may occur after cooking and before packaging.

For example, meat-processing plants producing ready-to-eat foods, such as hot dogs and deli meats, must follow extensive sanitation policies and procedures to prevent Listeria contamination. Listeria monocytogenes is commonly found in soil, stream water, sewage, plants, and food. Listeria is responsible for listeriosis, a rare but potentially lethal food-borne infection. The case fatality rate for those with a severe form of infection may approach 25%. (Salmonella, in comparison, has a mortality rate estimated at less than 1%. Although Listeria monocytogenes has low infectivity, it is hardy and can grow in temperatures from 4 °C (39.2 °F) (the temperature of a refrigerator), to 37 °C (98.6 °F), (the body’s internal temperature). Listeriosis is a serious illness, and the disease may manifest as meningitis, or affect newborns due to its ability to penetrate the endothelial layer of the placenta.

This is really a new way to find and fight infections. One way to think of it is identifying a suspect by lineup or fingerprint.

Listeria an Emerging Threat

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Listeria bacteria can be found in soil, water and animal feces. Humans typically are infected by consuming:

Raw vegetables that have been contaminated from the soil or from contaminated manure used as fertilizer.
Infected meat.
Unpasteurized milk or foods made with unpasteurized milk.
Certain processed foods — such as soft cheeses, hot dogs and deli meats that have been contaminated after processing.

Eric and Ryan Jensen recently walked out of court as free men. They are charged with knowing, or should have known that their cantaloupes were contaminated with listeria. This issue in 2011 killed 33 people. What jerks these Jensens are!

From August through October 2011, 147 people in 28 states were infected with Listeria monocytogenes after eating cantaloupe from Jensen Farms in Colorado. There were 33 deaths, and one pregnant women had a miscarriage as a result, making it one of the deadliest outbreak of foodborne illness in the U.S. in recent years.

Apart from some diarrhea or minor gastrointestinal problems, most people don’t get sick when they’re exposed to Listeria. But, if the pathogen gets into their bloodstream, it can cause listeriosis, a disease that kills one out of every five victims. Because of these odds, Listeria has the highest mortality rate of foodborne pathogens.

Groups most at risk for Listeria infections are older adults, pregnant women and people with an underlying medical conditions such as cancer liver or kidney disease, diabetes or HIV/AIDS.

People 65 and older are four times more likely to get sick from Listeria poisoning than the general population, and pregnant women – who may not develop listeriosis themselves but whose babies could be threatened – are 10 times more likely.

Foods that typically cause Listeria outbreaks are Mexican-style soft cheeses made with unpasteurized milk, deli meats, and hot dogs. Produce was not often identified as a source in the past, but sprouts caused an outbreak in 2009, and pre-cut celery caused an outbreak in 2010.

In addition to its high mortality rate, Listeria is an unusual foodborne pathogen because it can survive and multiply at refrigerator temperatures. In order to avoid Listeria, CDC recommends that high-risk consumers heat hot dogs, lunch meats and cold cuts to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F and avoid products with unpasteurized milk, refrigerated paté or meal spreads, and uncooked smoked seafood.

When it comes to melon safety, consumers and food preparers should wash their hands before and after handling a whole melon, scrub the outside of melons under running water and dry them with a clean cloth or paper towel before cutting, and then promptly consume or refrigerate cut melon and keep it for no more than a week.