Table 2.
Examples of studies aimed to assess the growth potential in different ready-to-eat food artificially contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.
| Type of food | RTE food | pH | Aw | Incubation | Growth | Reference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Temperature (°C) | Time (days) | (log10 cfu/g) | |||||
| Meat products | Cooked ham slices | 6.2 | 0.975 | 7 | 5 | 2.0 | Uyttendaele et al., 2004 |
| Sliced deli meat | 6.1-6.3 | - | 7 | 35 | 7.0 | Beumer et al., 1996 | |
| Dairy products | Ricotta salata cheese | 5.8-6.3 | 0.940-0.950 | 4-6 | 60 | 3.05-4.87 | Spanu et al., 2012 |
| Fishery products | Smoked salmon | 5.8-6.3 | 0.93-0.96 | 4-10 | 30 | 2.5-4.5 | Guyer and Jemmi, 1991 |
| Salmon preparations | - | 0.997 | 4-8 | 7 | 1.3-6.42 | Midelet-Bourdin et al., 2010 | |
| Produce and salads | RTE vegetables | 6.2-7.2 | - | 7-15 | 6 | 0.21-3.34 | Sant’Ana et al., 2012 |
| Green leafy vegetables | - | - | 7-10 | - | 0.5-1.5 | Carlin and Nguyen–The, 1994 | |
| Garlic cheese salad | 5.5 | - | 3-7 | 2 | 0.44-0.99 | Skalina and Nikolajeva, 2010 | |
| Smoked ham salad | 5.0-5.1 | - | 3-7 | 2 | 0.26-1.11 | Skalina and Nikolajeva, 2010 | |
| Shrimp-tomato salad | 5.5 | - | 3-7 | 2 | 0.48-0.64 | Skalina and Nikolajeva, 2010 | |
RTE, ready-to-eat; aw, water activity.