Changes in populations of Listeria monocytogenes inoculated on packaged fresh-cut vegetables

Abstract

A variety of wholesale and retail packaged vegetables and salads were inoculated with a mixture of strains of Listeria monocytogenes and incubated at 4 and 10°C. Whole rutabagas, butternut squash, and onions, as well as packaged Caesar salad, carrots, coleslaw mix, and stir-fry vegetables were purchased from local supermarkets in the Ottawa area. L. monocytogenes population levels remained constant on all fresh-cut vegetables stored at 4°C for 9 days, except for carrots and butternut squash: counts of cell numbers declined on carrots and increased on the butternut squash. Fresh-cut vegetables stored at 10°C, however, supported good growth of L. monocytogenes on all vegetables tested, except for chopped carrots, where the population decreased approximately 2 log units over a 9-day storage period. As in the situation with the produce stored at 4°C, butternut squash supported the highest rate of cell growth. In addition, Caesar salad and coleslaw mix were kept at 25°C for 1 or 2 days before subsequent storage at 4 or 10°C to simulate extreme temperature-abuse conditions. In Caesar salad stored at 4°C, by day 6 an initial 24- and 48-h temperature abuse at 25°C led to a 1.21- and 2.55-log-unit population increase, respectively, over the control. Similar increases were observed on Caesar salads stored at 10°C. Compared to Caesar salad, coleslaw mix temperature-abused at 25°C and then stored at 4°C supported slightly greater increases in the population of L. monocytogenes, i.e., a 3.22- and 3.83-log-unit increase over the control for the 1- and 2-day abused samples, respectively. Coleslaw mix samples temperature-abused and then stored at 10°C, however, only showed log unit increases of 1.75 and 1.94, respectively, compared to the controls. These results point to the importance of strict temperature control to prevent or reduce the growth of L. monocytogenes cells on fresh-cut vegetables.