Key points
- People who eat food contaminated with Listeria bacteria can get a harmful infection.
- Listeria spread easily among deli equipment, surfaces, hands, and food.
- Meats, cheeses, and other foods sold at the deli can be contaminated with Listeria.
- Deli meats, cold cuts, hot dogs, and fermented or dry sausages also can be contaminated with the bacteria.
Meats, cheeses, and salads from the deli
Products sold at deli counters, especially those sliced or prepared at the deli, can be contaminated with Listeria. Listeria spreads easily among deli equipment, surfaces, hands, and food. Deli products are kept refrigerated, but refrigeration does not kill Listeria.
Examples of deli salads include coleslaw, potato salad, tuna salad, and chicken salad.
Recent multistate outbreaks:
Deli meats, cold cuts, hot dogs, and sausages
Deli meats, cold cuts, hot dogs, and fermented or dry sausages can be contaminated with Listeria. Although cooking, fermenting, or drying kills germs, these meats can become contaminated later by touching surfaces in the production facility with Listeria.
Refrigeration does not kill Listeria, but reheating before eating will kill any germs that may be on these meats.
Examples of fermented or dry sausages include chorizo, pepperoni, salami, and summer sausage.
Recent multistate outbreaks:
Show me the science
- Churchill KJ, Sargeant JM, Farber JM, O'Connor AM. Prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes in select ready-to-eat foods-deli meat, soft cheese, and packaged salad: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Food Prot. 2019;82(2):344-357.
- FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service. Interpretive summary: Quantitative assessment of the relative risk to public health from foodborne Listeria monocytogenes among selected categories of ready-to-eat foods.
- Endrikat S, Gallagher D, Pouillot R, Hicks Quesenberry H, Labarre D, Schroeder CM, Kause J. A comparative risk assessment for Listeria monocytogenes in prepackaged versus retail-sliced deli meat. J Food Prot. 2010;73(4):612-9.
- Gottlieb SL, Newbern EC, Griffin PM, Graves LM, Hoekstra RM, Baker NL, et al. Multistate outbreak of listeriosis linked to turkey deli meat and subsequent changes in US regulatory policy. Clin Infect Dis. 2006;42(1):29-36.
- Mead PS, Dunne EF, Graves LM, Wiedmann M, Patrick M, Hunter S, et al. Nationwide outbreak of listeriosis due to contaminated meat. Epidemiol Infect. 2006;134(4):744-51.