Evaluation of the Persistence and Characterization of Listeria monocytogenes in Foodservice Operations

Toro, Magaly; Williams-Vergara, Jessica; Solar, Camila; Quesille-Villalobos, Ana María; Kwon, Hee Jin; Navarrete, Paola; Meng, Jianghong; Chen, Yi; Reyes-Jara, Angélica

doi:10.3390/foods11060886

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Evaluation of the Persistence and Characterization of Listeria monocytogenes in Foodservice Operations

Magaly Toro

Jessica Williams-Vergara

¹,

Camila Solar

¹,

Ana María Quesille-Villalobos

¹,

^2,3,

^2,3,

⁴ and

^1,*

Laboratorio de Microbiología y Probióticos, Instituto de Nutrición y Tecnología de los Alimentos (INTA), Universidad de Chile, Avenida El Líbano 5524, Macul, Santiago 7810000, Chile

Department of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA

Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (JIFSAN), University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA

⁴

Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Food and Drug Administration, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Academic Editor: Stephan Schmitz-Esser

Foods 2022, 11(6), 886; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11060886

Received: 15 February 2022 / Revised: 6 March 2022 / Accepted: 9 March 2022 / Published: 20 March 2022

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Safety: Persistence of Listeria monocytogenes in Food Production Environments)

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Abstract

Listeria monocytogenes is a major foodborne pathogen that can contaminate food products and colonize food-producing facilities. Foodservice operations (FSOp) are frequently responsible for foodborne outbreaks due to food safety practices failures. We investigated the presence of and characterized L. monocytogenes from two FSOp (cafeterias) distributing ready-to-eat meals and verified FSOp’s compliance with good manufacturing practices (GMP). Two facilities (FSOp-A and FSOp-B) were visited three times each over 5 months. We sampled foods, ingredients, and surfaces for microbiological analysis, and L. monocytogenes isolates were characterized by phylogenetic analyses and phenotypic characteristics. GMP audits were performed in the first and third visits. A ready-to-eat salad (FSOp-A) and a frozen ingredient (FSOp-B) were contaminated with L. monocytogenes, which was also detected on Zone 3 surfaces (floor, drains, and a boot cover). The phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that FSOp-B had persistent L. monocytogenes strains, but environmental isolates were not closely related to food or ingredient isolates. GMP audits showed that both operations worked under “fair” conditions, and “facilities and equipment” was the section with the least compliances. The presence of L. monocytogenes in the environment and GMP failures could promote food contamination with this pathogen, presenting a risk to consumers. View Full-Text

Keywords: Listeria monocytogenes; foodservice operations; GMP; biofilm; quaternary ammonium resistance; genomic analysis

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MDPI and ACS Style

Toro, M.; Williams-Vergara, J.; Solar, C.; Quesille-Villalobos, A.M.; Kwon, H.J.; Navarrete, P.; Meng, J.; Chen, Y.; Reyes-Jara, A. Evaluation of the Persistence and Characterization of Listeria monocytogenes in Foodservice Operations. Foods 2022, 11, 886. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11060886

AMA Style

Toro M, Williams-Vergara J, Solar C, Quesille-Villalobos AM, Kwon HJ, Navarrete P, Meng J, Chen Y, Reyes-Jara A. Evaluation of the Persistence and Characterization of Listeria monocytogenes in Foodservice Operations. Foods. 2022; 11(6):886. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11060886

Chicago/Turabian Style

Toro, Magaly, Jessica Williams-Vergara, Camila Solar, Ana M. Quesille-Villalobos, Hee J. Kwon, Paola Navarrete, Jianghong Meng, Yi Chen, and Angélica Reyes-Jara. 2022. "Evaluation of the Persistence and Characterization of Listeria monocytogenes in Foodservice Operations" Foods 11, no. 6: 886. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11060886

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Evaluation of the Persistence and Characterization of Listeria monocytogenes in Foodservice Operations

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