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The influence of a traditional procedure of washing of smear Taleggio cheese on surface spreading of Listeria innocua was studied. This practice is carried out during ripening to remove molds, to select the surface microflora, and to control the ripening process. One cheese, both of 2 (i) and 4 (ii) weeks of ripening, was surface-inoculated with approximately 3 log CFU of L. innocua per entire cheese surface. The inoculated cheeses and others of the same age were weekly washed with brine solution. Listeria was spread both on the surface of the inoculated cheese and on the other cheeses, and it was also found in the brines and on the wooden boxes where the cheeses were ripened. The time of ripening when contamination occurs influenced the behavior of Listeria. At the moment of contamination, the smear surface microflora of (i) cheese was approximately 2 log CFU/g higher than of (ii) cheese. Listeria inoculated on 2-week-ripened cheese was able to colonize the entire surface of the cheese and to cross-contaminate the other cheeses. On the contrary, Listeria inoculated on a 4-week-ripened cheese was partially spread on the surface of the originally inoculated cheese, and the transfer of contamination by the washing procedure was restrained. Because a random distribution of Listeria on cheese surface was observed, the importance of the mode of sampling was discussed. Because of the lack of critical control points during ripening of Taleggio cheese, the Listeria hazard needs to be controlled by taking appropriate control measures to break off the contamination cycle (cheese --> brine --> wooden boxes --> cheese).

Mixed neuroendocrine non-neuroendocrine neoplasms (MiNENs) refer to heterogenous rare neoplasms constituted of at least a neuroendocrine population—either well-differentiated, or more frequently poorly differentiated—and a non-neuroendocrine population, both accounting for at least 30% of the whole tumor mass. Several studies recently focused on the key genetic and epigenetic changes underlying MiNENs to better understand how they develop, and explore biological similarities among the two components and their pure counterparts. However, their molecular landscape still remains poorly understood. NGS may represent a useful tool to study this orphan disease by detecting the main genetic alterations and possible therapeutic targets. NGS analysis on tissue and/or blood samples through the Foundation One (F1) platform was performed on consecutive samples collected from four patients diagnosed with MiNENs of the gastroenteric tract. Several genetic alterations were shared among samples from the same patients, thus suggesting a common origin between them, although morphology sometimes changed at histopathological evaluation. Common molecular alterations among samples from different patients that had not been previously described to our knowledge were also detected. Finally, it is of the utmost importance to clarify if the maintenance of the 30% cut-off is still essential in defining MiNENs and really manages to include all of the mixed neoplasms.