A microbiological survey of retail cold sliced meats and pâtés with particular reference to the presence of Listeria monocytogenes.

The Food Standards Agency has just launched a microbiological survey of cooked cold sliced cooked meats and pâtés on retail sale in the UK. The main aim of the survey is to look for possible contamination of these products with Listeria monocytogenes.

Listeria monocytogenes is one of the five key organisms against which the Agency has been monitoring progress in reducing foodborne disease in recent years. The number of cases of listeriosis in the UK increased markedly in 2003 and, whilst there has been a subsequent gradual decrease, reports are still much higher than they were in the 1990s. Most of this increase is accounted for by non-pregnancy-associated cases involving other vulnerable groups, particularly the elderly. Since listeriosis has a high mortality rate, it is important that any potential food source is identified.

This is a random survey and sampling is based on market share. This should give a representative picture of the contamination levels throughout the UK. As far as is possible, the country of origin / source and production types of all samples will be recorded. The number of samples taken will allow a measure of the levels of Listeria present in cold cooked sliced meats and pâtés to be made.

In total 2,000 cold cooked sliced meats and 2,000 pâté samples will be taken and tested over the course of 6 months in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

The primary objective of the survey is to determine the prevalence of Listeria spp. and Listeria monocytogenes in cold cooked sliced meats and pâté sold at UK retail outlets. The survey is being carried out on all types of cooked sliced meats – beef, ham, chicken and turkey but fermented meats such as chorizo sausage, salami and parma ham will be excluded from this survey.

The survey will also be looking at other microbiological parameters such as Enterobacteriaceae, Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Campylobacter and Staphylococcus aureus. Physical characteristics such as water activity, pH and salt content will also be measured.

The survey was started in March 2007 and lasted for 6 months

There are no results at present for this survey but a final report should be published in Spring 2009.

ALcontrol Laboratories.