Demonstrating control of Listeria in food

Food business operators (FBOs) must be able to demonstrate their ready-to-eat foods are safe in terms of Listeria monocytogenes (Lm). This is a legal requirement under Regulation (EC) No. 2073/2005 on microbiological criteria for foodstuffs. Evidence of controlling Lm can come from many different sources, from challenge tests to historical data, but each approach will not necessarily provide the same evidence of Lm control. Understandably, this can be confusing for FBOs.

One of our new member-funded research projects will create a structured, transparent system to help businesses demonstrate effective control of the organism. It will work like a scoring system; FBOs will receive points from these different approaches and when a threshold is reached, they will have assurance that they can demonstrate effective control of Lm.

The project will take a number of approaches over its two-year duration including the formation of a steering group, the selection of manufacturing sites and products for case studies, and ultimately the production of a guidance document.

Would you like to be a part of the project? Getting involved will allow you to make the scoring system relevant to you and will provide you with the opportunity to have your products and facilities tested as one of the case studies.

Contact: Gail Betts
+44(0)1386 842071
gail.betts@campdenbri.co.uk