Precut Prepackaged Lettuce: A Risk for Listeriosis?

The most recent outbreaks of listeriosis have been traced back to contaminated ready-to-eat (RTE) poultry and meat products. However, Listeria monocytogenes can be isolated from every food group, including fresh vegetables. This review is focused on one of the most popular RTE vegetable products, pr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inFoodborne pathogens and disease Vol. 5; no. 6; pp. 731 - 746
Main Authors Hanning, Irene B, Johnson, Michael G, Ricke, Steven C
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.12.2008
Subjects
bacterial contamination
Colony Count, Microbial
Consumer Product Safety
Disease Outbreaks
Disinfection - methods
food contamination
Food Contamination - analysis
Food Contamination - prevention & control
Food Handling - methods
Food Microbiology
food pathogens
Foodborne Diseases - epidemiology
Foodborne Diseases - prevention & control
foodborne illness
fresh-cut foods
Humans
Lactuca - microbiology
lettuce
Listeria monocytogenes
Listeria monocytogenes - growth & development
listeriosis
literature reviews
minimally processed foods
Risk Factors
Time Factors
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Summary:The most recent outbreaks of listeriosis have been traced back to contaminated ready-to-eat (RTE) poultry and meat products. However, Listeria monocytogenes can be isolated from every food group, including fresh vegetables. This review is focused on one of the most popular RTE vegetable products, precut prepackaged lettuce. The available literature concerning Listeria contamination of vegetables is reviewed, and possible reasons why no recent outbreaks or sporadic cases of listeriosis due to contaminated precut prepackaged lettuce are explored.
ISSN:1535-3141
1556-7125
DOI:10.1089/fpd.2008.0142