Evaluation of listeriosis risk related with the consumption of non-prepackaged ready-to-eat cooked meat products handled at retail stores in Greece

The aim of this project was to assess the exposure of consumers to Listeria monocytogenes, related to the consumption of non-prepackaged ready-to-eat (RTE) cooked meat products handled at retail food service environments in Greece. These products are referred to as NP-RTE-CMP below. 

The project focused on developing an exposure assessment model for the assessment of consumers’ exposure to this pathogen, based on the prevalence and the concentration of L. monocytogenes at retail level, Listeria growth during home storage and consumption of NP-RTE-CMP. This model could serve as a useful tool to evaluate strategies at both retail and domestic level (i.e. better hygiene conditions at retail level, regulation of a use-by date for NP-RTE-CMP and improvement of domestic storage temperature) for the reduction of the risk of listeriosis.

This project was supported by a grant (Grant number: GP/EFSA/AFSCO/2016/04) awarded by EFSA to the “Hellenic Food Authority (EFET)”, acting as coordinator, and to the “Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH)”, acting as co-beneficiary.