Stakeholder meeting on the draft scientific opinion on Listeria monocytogenes contamination of ready‐to‐eat foods and the risk for human health in the EU

Abstract

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) carried out a public consultation to receive input from the scientific community and all interested parties on the draft Scientific Opinion on Listeria monocytogenes contamination of ready-to-eat (RTE) foods and the risk for human health in the EU, prepared by the EFSA Scientific Panel on Biological Hazards (BIOHAZ Panel) and endorsed by the BIOHAZ Panel for public consultation at its Plenary meeting on 6 July 2017. The written public consultation for this document was open from 24 July 2017 to 29 September 2017. Before the closure of the public consultation, EFSA organised a meeting with stakeholders who expressed interest to participate at the meeting on 19-20 September 2017 to present the draft Scientific Opinion and gather feedback. Speakers' presentations covered: (i) the potential health effects associated with L. monocytogenes and the relation between doses and illness in different risk groups; (ii) the exposure to L. monocytogenes by consumption of three categories of RTE foods as well as the factors that may affect exposure; and (iii) the trends of human listeriosis cases in the EU with potential explanatory factors. An overview of the presentations given, remarks made, and the most relevant discussion points put forward during the stakeholder meeting are provided in this report.