Health experts warn of listeria dangers in meat

May 23 2008 by Alan Weston, Liverpool Daily Post

HEALTH experts in the north-west last night issued a stark warning on the dangers of catching the potentially deadly listeria germ from the improper storage of freshly sliced cooked meats.

It followed tests in which environmental health officers from the region’s 42 local authorities – including Merseyside and Cheshire – purchased 1,127 samples of sliced-at-the-counter cooked meats from food retailers including butchers, delicatessens, market stalls and supermarkets.

Laboratory tests found that 15% of the samples were contaminated with low numbers of listeria on the day of purchase, while 7.3% were contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, the more serious form of listeria.

Although these were within European Food Safety Standards, when the contaminated samples were tested again after storage for 48 hours in a refrigerator, the L. monocytogenes in some of the contaminated samples had multiplied to unsafe levels.

The tests were carried out at a fridge temperature of six degrees centigrade. However, many domestic fridges are warmer than this, allowing L. monocytogenes to grow faster.

Hugh Lamont, communications manager for the Health Protection Agency North West, said: “We are anxious to ensure that we do not create a scare around freshly sliced cooked meats.

“We are not saying that people should not buy or eat them, but rather that they should follow ‘use by’ advice where it is given – and consume the products within 48 hours where it is not.

“We are also reminding food retailers of the advice they should give to customers.”

alanweston