Monitoring and analyzing Listeria monocytogenes contamination in municipal food products in Hu’nan Province from 2014 to 2021

Abstract

ObjectiveTo understand the pollution status of Listeria monocytogenes （LM） in different categories of commercial food products in Hu’nan Province， and provide a basis for the prevention and control of foodborne diseases and food safety supervision.MethodsIn 2014 to 2021， 12 046 food samples from 15 categories were randomly selected in 14 cities and prefectures in the province to carry out LM testing， and SPSS software was used to test the LM pollution in different food characteristics in urban and rural areas.ResultsA total of 12 046 commercially available food samples were collected， with 297 testing positive for LM， resulting in an overall detection rate of 2.47%. There was a statistically significant difference in LM detection rates among different quarters （χ2=18.652，P<0.001）. The second quarter had the highest detection rate （3.24%）， presenting a risk 1.6 times higher than that of other quarters （95% CI： 1.246~1.983， P<0.001）. The detection rate of LM in bulk food was higher than that of pre-packaged food， and the difference was statistical significant （P<0.001）. The detection rate of edible fungi and their products （9.17%） among different categories of food in urban areas was the highest， and the risk of LM pollution was 4.1 times that of other food categories （95% CI： 2.168~7.674， P<0.001）， followed by meat and meat products （7.13%） and frozen rice and noodles （3.74%）. The top three foods with LM detection rate in rural areas were edible fungi and their products （44.44%）， quick-frozen rice and noodles （5.88%）， and meat and meat products （4.48%）. Among meat and meat products， the risk of LM contamination of prefabricated meat products and frozen livestock meat was 52.5 times and 36.1 times that of cooked meat products （P<0.001）. In addition， the detection rate of this bacteria in food in the circulation link is higher than that in catering services （χ2=56.654， P<0.001）， the detection rate of food in wholesale markets is the highest （11.54%）， and the pollution risk was 5.2 times than that of other places （95% CI： 1.553~17.423， P=0.025）.ConclusionLM contamination exists in commerical food in Hu’nan Province， especially in edible fungi and prefabricated meat products.

Keywords

• commercially available food
• listeria monocytogenes
• food characteristics
• contamination risk