Experts warn of persistent Listeria risk
Credit: Kersia UK
Kersia UK is calling on food manufacturers and processors to adopt a 5-point Listeria control plan into operations, backed by specialist hygiene expertise, training and environmental monitoring.
With an average of seven outbreaks per year, and a total of 28 fatalities from laboratory-confirmed cases in 2024, Listeria monocytogenes remains a persistent threat.
Kersia UK technical service and training manager, David Childs, stresses that food businesses should not rely on ‘clean as usual’ approach.
“Listeria can survive high-salt, low-nutrient conditions, grows at refrigeration temperatures, and can be resistant to routine cleaning,” says Mr Childs.
“Overcoming this human foodborne pathogen requires every operation in the food supply chain to implement a proactive, validated plan and ensure its workforce owns hygiene from the ground up.”
Global hygiene specialists, Kersia, provide farm to fork solutions across the supply chain and recommend the following steps for improving Listeria control.
The 5-point control plan
- Prevent entry into high-hygiene areas – zoning, barriers and tight control of people, raw materials and movement.
- Infrastructure integrity – design-out harbourage points; fix damaged surfaces and equipment that undermine cleaning.
- Cross-contamination control – segregate kit and flows between raw/cooked zones; manage vectors like wheels and footwear.
- Cleaning and disinfection that’s validated – target biofilms; verify that routines actually work in production.
- Environmental monitoring and microbiological verification – routine in-process swabbing, post-clean checks and trend analysis to detect early signs of contamination and take corrective action.
Kersia UK provides targeted cleaning chemistries, validated disinfection protocols, environmental monitoring tools and multi-level Listeria training, as well as on-site technical support to investigate root causes and strengthen controls after incidents.
“We are committed to instilling food safety culture as the fastest way to protect brands and consumers from the £41.3 million total societal burden of Listeria,” says Mr Childs.
“A risk review and implementation of the Listeria 5-point plan across all sites can reduce plant downtime, investigations, product recalls and liability,” he concludes.
