What’s Your Listeria Action Plan?

By: Hilary Thesmar, PhD, RD, FMI Vice President, Food Safety Programs, Food Marketing Institute

While 41 percent of consumers hold food retailers responsible for ensuring food safety, 93 percent of consumers trust their grocery store to actually deliver on that expectation (FMI U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends 2015). Retailers work tirelessly to serve customers and the health and safety of customers is at the top of the list of industry priorities.

FMI recently invested in an updated FMI Listeria Action Plan for retailers which reaches beyond the deli. Developed by retail food safety experts, this document is simple and usable so that your store managers can take even more conscious steps to reduce the risk of Listeria contamination in supermarket delis, and other departments with fresh and prepared foods.

The 2016 recommendations include specific action steps to limit Listeria growth with a focus on time and temperature; controlling product and people volume in RTE production areas; training on cleaning, sanitation and employee practices; complementary cleaning and sanitizing procedures; environmental monitoring plans that includes regular sampling; and incoming ingredient management which specifies best practices for retailer-supplier programs.

The timing of the revised FMI Listeria Action Plan is particularly relevant as the US Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) embarks on a one year pilot program to evaluate Listeria control practices in retail environments. FSIS inspectors on routine visits to retail stores will be surveying the Listeria control practices in the delis and collecting information for future use by the agency. The FSIS survey is based on a checklist published in the FSIS Best Practices Guidance for Controlling Listeria monocytogenes(Lm) in Retail Delicatessens June 2015.  

While employee education is foremost, supermarket associates can leverage their knowledge about store procedures and become food safety ambassadors to their customers. The best consumer facing tool is a campaign that the FMI Foundation supported through the Partnership for Food Safety Education in 2015, Go 40 and Below. This consumer education program offers tangible messages, infographics, circular content and a sharable video to teach practices on how to avoid “the Danger Zone.”

Want more information? Visit FMI’s Center for Food Retail and Defense.