Following several outbreaks involving Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat meat
and poultry products, the United States Department of Agriculture Food Safety and
Inspection Service required that processors of these products implement post-processing
intervention strategies for controlling L. monocytogenes. The USDA defines a postlethality
treatment as a process that reduces L. monocytogenes by at least 1 log. Research
has shown that packaging can generate a 1 log L. monocytogenes reduction following
1 or more weeks of storage at room temperature. The objective of our study was to
determine the effect of packaging system and storage time on reducing L. monocytogenes
in shelf-stable kippered beef steak.
