Ls. Bersot et al., Production of mortadella: behavior of Listeria monocytogenes during processing and storage conditions, MEAT SCI, 57(1), 2001, pp. 13-17
The presence of Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat meat products is cau
se of concern to the food industry as well as to health authorities. Studie
s were conducted to evaluate the presence of L. monocytogenes in mortadella
s acquired at retail stores and to evaluate the fate of two levels of a L.
monocytogenes pool spiked in two different formulations of the product, coo
ked under commercial conditions and stored at refrigeration (7 degreesC) an
d room temperature (25 degreesC). Among the samples collected at different
retail stores, 26.7% harboured L. monocytogenes. Regarding to the fate of L
. monocytogenes in mortadella, periodically, samples were taken and the sur
viving L. monocytogenes cells in the spiked products were counted by the MP
N procedure. Populations of <0.35 MPN/g of L. monocytogenes were found in t
hese samples. It could be concluded that the heat treatment was effective t
o reduce 3-log of L. monocytogenes independent of formulation or storage co
nditions. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.