Listeria Recall Uptick Gets FSIS Protective Measures Update

Increased food recalls from possible Listeria contamination have prompted FSIS to strengthen its food processing facility oversight.

FSIS is responding to growing Listeria recalls with an updated list of protective measures.
FSIS is responding to growing Listeria recalls with an updated list of protective measures.
William Thomas Cane/Stringer via Getty Images

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has announced updated protective measures in light of 2024’s Listeria outbreaks.

FSIS’s changes revolve around three categories: enhancing its science-based approach to mitigate foodborne pathogens with a key focus on Listeria monocytogenes, improving training and tools for its inspection workforce, and evolving its oversight of regulated facilities, with an emphasis on data review and state inspection agreements, per the USDA’s official FSIS press release.

8 measures FSIS is taking

FSIS outlined eight impending steps to combat the rise in Listeria cases in the release:

·     Effective January 2025, FSIS will add broader Listeria species testing to all samples of ready-to-eat product, environmental and food contact surfaces.

·      FSIS will leverage the expertise of its National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF).

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