A US government report shows that rules for decreasing the incidence of Listeria monocytogenes (LM) in ready-to-eat meat and poultry products are working.
The number of recalls due to LM decreased from 40 to 14 between 2002 and 2003, and the volume of product recalled decreased from approximately 14 million kg to 25,000 kg.
The US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) requires companies producing ready-to-eat products that are exposed to the environment after cooking to consider LM contamination likely, develop written control programmes, and to verify their effectiveness through testing. Companies have responded by strengthening control procedures, increasing testing, adding anti-microbial ingredients to products, and installing post-processing treatments.
About 2,500 people are infected with listeriosis each year in the US. The FSIS’ goal is to lower the incidence to approximately 750 cases by 2010.

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By GlobalData