Discover essential measures to control and prevent Listeria monocytogenes in food processing environments, safeguarding public health and maintaining product integrity.
As part of our commitment to helping food manufacturing businesses to maximise their levels of hygiene, we’re always ready to explain how our innovative equipment will benefit your cleaning teams. This time we’re taking a look at Listeria – what it is, why it’s such a huge issue, and how to prevent it from spreading in your facility.
Listeria Monocytogenes is the most common species of Listeria which can cause Listeriosis in humans. Listeria is one of the few bacteria that are able to multiply at low temperature, even as low as -1.5°C, which means it has the potential to grow even in food held in refrigerated storage. The most common cause of Listeriosis is the consumption of contaminated food, which means that food factories have to go above and beyond to prevent the disease from entering production areas.
Listeriosis can cause serious disease. It primarily affects pregnant women, new-born babies and elderly people, although anyone can suffer from its symptoms. Listeriosis can cause significant health problems in foetuses and babies, plus it can lead to sepsis, meningitis or encephalitis in people with weakened immune systems.
According to the CDC, most cases of invasive Listeriosis require hospital care and one in five people with the infection die as a result of contracting it. Listeriosis is also a cause of miscarriage, stillbirth and new-born death, which shows just how serious the bacterium is and why it must be removed from food manufacturing environments.
Even young and healthy people can suffer from a range of symptoms if they eat food that contains Listeria, such as headache, fever, stiffness, aches and pains, loss of balance, confusion and convulsions.
By putting in place the right kind of cleaning equipment, your food business will gain the peace of mind that you’re protecting the general public, the wider food sector, and the reputation of your brand.
Food production facilities often focus on cleaning food contact surfaces to ensure that the food is prepared and transported on a clean and disinfected surface. In our experience Listeria can be effectively controlled by ensuring that regular scheduled cleans are undertaken with a focus on floors, walls, ceilings and drains – so called ‘environmental’ cleaning which can sometimes be overlooked. Good cleaning standards using chlorinated based detergents on floors and in drains followed by disinfection can go a long way to keep Listeria at bay. Looking for areas in which Listeria can be harboured such as cracks in the floors and around drains and skirting, under equipment, behind loose panels and underneath failing silicon sealant etc can help you identify hotspots which require repairing or replacement. Listeria thrives in wet environments. If you are able to control and eliminate persistently wet areas and/or condensation you will be making it harder for listeria to grow and be transported around your facility.
When it comes to food factories, the most common location for the disease is floors, which is why we highly recommend the Nita Ceiling Hose Track. This clever piece of equipment keeps washdown hoses away from debris, dirt and bacteria on the floor, ensuring that the hose is hygienic and the water being sprayed over production areas remains uncontaminated.
