The European Commission has gone ahead with changes to the rules concerning Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat (RTE) food.
According to the Chilled Food Association (CFA), a section of the EU Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed confirmed the draft regulation amendments by a vote of 25 to two member states. Belgium voted against and Finland abstained.
This changes criterion 1.2b in the legislation so absence in a 25-gram sample applies throughout shelf life and not just before products have left the control of the producing food business.
It covers ready-to-eat foods able to support the growth of Listeria monocytogenes and where the company is unable to prove that the pathogen will not exceed the limit of 100 colony forming units per gram (cfu/g) throughout the shelf-life.
The EU Commission emphasized the need to provide public health protection from production to distribution.
Previously raised concerns
Data from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) One Health Zoonoses report shows Listeria infections hit record levels in Europe in 2022.
With legislation being implemented in the EU and Northern Ireland, there are concerns about the implications and issues in the UK, including ability to trade and the level of evidence required to demonstrate that shelf life has been substantiated. CFA is meeting with the Food Standards Agency (FSA) about the regulatory change, which applies from July 2026.
More than 80 comments were submitted to a consultation on the Listeria monocytogenes regulation proposals. They included the CFA-led Industry Listeria Group.
Many submissions were against the plans and raised concerns about how they would work in practice as well as issues around challenge testing and the fact that a zero tolerance approach puts companies off testing and results in problems not being discovered.
The Chilled Food Association said the legislation was effective when enforced and did not need to be changed. The group added legislation and guidance was not being enforced effectively or risk-focused in countries where rates have escalated. Other comments said the changes were a move away from a risk-based approach to a hazard-based law.
Respondents were also worried about situations where products are negative when leaving the control of the food business but later test positive, without a clear view on the history of sampled products, such as temperature abuse in the supply chain.
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