The European Commission has set new, more stringent requirements for avoiding listeria contamination in ready-to-eat (RTE) foods.
The updated rules only apply to RTE foods, which have been the cause of many recent listeria cases in the E.U. and are, thus, considered a high-risk food group.
The new rules establish a lower contamination threshold and a longer time frame in which producers are responsible for food safety than those that came before. The previous rules required producers to demonstrate that their products were not contaminated before they left the producer’s control, through demonstrating that listeria was not detected in a 25-gram portion of ready-to-eat food in sufficient quantities that its growth over time would exceed 100 colony-forming units per gram (cfu/g).. Now, producers will be required to show that their products are not contaminated throughout their entire shelf life – likely requiring new processes.
Representatives of the E.U. seafood sector have argued that the new rules are neither necessary nor likely to be effective.
When the new regulations were first proposed in July 2024, lobby group Salmon Scotland said that the current regulations were sufficient.
“It has been well-proven through epidemiological data and, indeed our own data, that [the current] approach is effective,” the organization said.
The Chilled Food Association (CFA) agreed, pinning the E.U.’s rise in listeria contamination cases to a lack of regulatory enforcement – not a need for new regulations.
“It is apparent from the E.U., which is now double its 2008 listeriosis rate, that the legislation and guidance are not being enforced effectively or risk focused in those countries where rates have escalated,” the organization said. “The current legislation is effective when enforced. It does not need to be changed.”
Food producers can now demonstrate their products are safe either by showing that there is no listeria detectable in 25 grams of their RTE products at any point during its shelf life, or by showing that the pathogen remains below 100 colony-forming units (CFU) per gram throughout the product’s shelf life. CFUs per gram is a standard measure used to quantify the amount of bacteria in a food sample.
If producers cannot guarantee that they can limit CFUs per gram to 100 throughout the product’s lifetime, they must maintain the “not detectable in 25-gram” standard.
Some E.U. salmon producers questioned how they would meet these standards in practice.
"Manufacturers will not be able to prove that listeria will not reach the 100 cfu/g limit at the end of its expiration date," a representative for Mowi Lębork, Mowi's Polish production unit, said at the time of the proposal. "It has not been specified how many tests should be performed, in what period, how to interpret the results, and how to take them into account in the assessment of the effectiveness and correctness of HACCP."
Cases of listeriosis have been on the rise in the E.U., and the regulatory change was prompted by a recent European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) report that found a 15.9 percent increase in sickenings from listeria between 2021 and 2022.
While cooking food at high temperatures kills the listeria bacteria, contamination can occur after packing, and listeria can survive salty environments and cold temperatures, making RTE foods like smoked salmon susceptible to listeria colonization.
Listeriosis is particularly dangerous for newborns, pregnant people, the elderly, and others with compromised immune systems. The infection can present itself in a variety of ways – from a mild flu-like illness to life-threatening conditions like meningitis.
The new law will be enforceable starting on 1 July 2026.