Listeria control ready-to-eat (RTE) meat and poultry industry: a white paper on the “seek and destroy” philosophy
This project developed a white-paper addressing the scientific support behind current Listeria monocytogenes process controls employed by the ready-to-eat meat and poultry industry. The “Seek and Destroy” strategy is a systematic approach to finding sites of persistent growth in food processing plants, with the goal of either eradicating or monitoring and mitigating effects of niches.
Description
The goal of this project was to develop a white-paper, to be published in a peer-reviewed journal, addressing the scientific support behind current Listeria monocytogenes process controls employed by the ready-to-eat (RTE) meat and poultry industry. The specific objectives of this white paper were to:
(1) Summarize the scientific data supporting the importance of environmental L. monocytogenes contamination and persistence as the predominant source of L. monocytogenes contamination of RTE meat and poultry products;
(2) Outline the “seek and destroy” philosophy;
(3) Provide background on the development of the “seek and destroy” philosophy including scientific support; and
(4) Examine the L. monocytogenes regulatory policy for all RTE foods and detail the positive and negative aspects of each federal agency’s approach.
Project code
Final report submitted
11-213
August 2013