Incidence of Listeria spp. in domestic refrigerators in Portugal

Inês Azevedo; Mafalda Regalo; Cristina Mena; Gon Almeida; Luísa Carneiro; Paula Teixeira; Tim Hogg; Paul A. Gibbs

doi:10.1016/j.foodcont.2003.12.006

Incidence of Listeria spp. in domestic refrigerators in Portugal

Inês Azevedo, Mafalda Regalo, Cristina Mena, Gon Almeida, Luísa Carneiro, Paula Teixeira^*, Tim Hogg, Paul A. Gibbs

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

The main objectives of this study were to determine the incidence of Listeria spp. in Portuguese domestic refrigerators and to evaluate some of the hygienic practices in the domestic environment that might contribute to the persistence of the organisms. It was found that L. monocytogenes was present in 3 domestic refrigerators of the 86 investigated. L. grayi and L. innocua were also isolated from 4 and 1 refrigerators, respectively. Overall, the information obtained from our survey demonstrates the need for consumer education in Portugal regarding safe food handling practices. For the refrigerators investigated, ≈71% were operating at a temperature higher than 6.1 °C, 87% were cleaned only monthly or less frequently, and only 8% were cleaned with appropriate proprietary cleaning products available in supermarkets.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	121-124
Number of pages	4
Journal	Food Control
Volume	16
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2003.12.006
Publication status	Published - Feb 2005

Keywords

Food safety
Incidence
L. monocytogenes

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10.1016/j.foodcont.2003.12.006

19798753Accepted author manuscript, 58.7 KBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.14/3385Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

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title = "Incidence of Listeria spp. in domestic refrigerators in Portugal",

abstract = "The main objectives of this study were to determine the incidence of Listeria spp. in Portuguese domestic refrigerators and to evaluate some of the hygienic practices in the domestic environment that might contribute to the persistence of the organisms. It was found that L. monocytogenes was present in 3 domestic refrigerators of the 86 investigated. L. grayi and L. innocua were also isolated from 4 and 1 refrigerators, respectively. Overall, the information obtained from our survey demonstrates the need for consumer education in Portugal regarding safe food handling practices. For the refrigerators investigated, ≈71% were operating at a temperature higher than 6.1 °C, 87% were cleaned only monthly or less frequently, and only 8% were cleaned with appropriate proprietary cleaning products available in supermarkets.",

keywords = "Food safety, Incidence, L. monocytogenes",

author = "In{\^e}s Azevedo and Mafalda Regalo and Cristina Mena and Gon Almeida and Lu{\'i}sa Carneiro and Paula Teixeira and Tim Hogg and Gibbs, {Paul A.}",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Incidence of Listeria spp. in domestic refrigerators in Portugal

AU - Azevedo, Inês

AU - Regalo, Mafalda

AU - Mena, Cristina

AU - Almeida, Gon

AU - Carneiro, Luísa

AU - Teixeira, Paula

AU - Hogg, Tim

AU - Gibbs, Paul A.

PY - 2005/2

Y1 - 2005/2

N2 - The main objectives of this study were to determine the incidence of Listeria spp. in Portuguese domestic refrigerators and to evaluate some of the hygienic practices in the domestic environment that might contribute to the persistence of the organisms. It was found that L. monocytogenes was present in 3 domestic refrigerators of the 86 investigated. L. grayi and L. innocua were also isolated from 4 and 1 refrigerators, respectively. Overall, the information obtained from our survey demonstrates the need for consumer education in Portugal regarding safe food handling practices. For the refrigerators investigated, ≈71% were operating at a temperature higher than 6.1 °C, 87% were cleaned only monthly or less frequently, and only 8% were cleaned with appropriate proprietary cleaning products available in supermarkets.

AB - The main objectives of this study were to determine the incidence of Listeria spp. in Portuguese domestic refrigerators and to evaluate some of the hygienic practices in the domestic environment that might contribute to the persistence of the organisms. It was found that L. monocytogenes was present in 3 domestic refrigerators of the 86 investigated. L. grayi and L. innocua were also isolated from 4 and 1 refrigerators, respectively. Overall, the information obtained from our survey demonstrates the need for consumer education in Portugal regarding safe food handling practices. For the refrigerators investigated, ≈71% were operating at a temperature higher than 6.1 °C, 87% were cleaned only monthly or less frequently, and only 8% were cleaned with appropriate proprietary cleaning products available in supermarkets.

KW - Food safety

KW - Incidence

KW - L. monocytogenes

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U2 - 10.1016/j.foodcont.2003.12.006

DO - 10.1016/j.foodcont.2003.12.006

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SN - 0956-7135

VL - 16

SP - 121

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JO - Food Control

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Incidence of Listeria spp. in domestic refrigerators in Portugal

Abstract

Keywords

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