Prevention of Listeria Growth on Fully-Cooked Chicken During Storage

Over the last decade, L. monocytogenes has gradually entered the limelight as an “emerging pathogen or pathogen of concern” on fresh meat and poultry products. In a review on industry perspectives on Listeria monocytogenes, Marsden stated “through the application of thermal processes that assure the destruction of Listeria monocytogenes and through the wide use of HACCP and GMP’s, improved sanitation, separation of raw materials from cooked product and other measures designed to reduce t...he probability of recontamination, the incidence of Listeria monocytogenes in cooked ready-to-eat products is extremely low. However, unless these products are absolutely sterilized, the incidence is not likely to ever be zero: and even if the incidence is zero, recontamination and outgrowth may occur further down the food chain. The absolute elimination of Listeria monocytogenes from the food supply is not a realistic objective” (1). A new approach to prevention of Listeria growth on chicken must be used.