Survey of Residential Refrigerators for the Presence of Listeria monocytogenes

Abstract

One hundred and ninety-five residential refrigerators in Brazos and Robertson counties of Texas were examined for the presence of Listeria monocytogenes. Surfaces on which meat and vegetables were usually stored, as well as other storage areas, were sampled. L. monocytogenes was not recovered from any of the refrigerators sampled. The organism, if introduced, may only be a transient inhabitant of refrigerator surfaces, as long-term colonization of such surfaces does not seem to be a common occurrence.

The incidence of significant foodborne pathogens in domestic refrigerators

“…monocytogenes was isolated in 1.2% of refrigerators analysed in this study. This is in agreement with previous reports of L. monocytogenes in between 0% and 2.9% refrigerators (Beumer, teGiVel, Spoorenberg, & Rombouts, 1996;Cox, Kleis, & Cordier, 1989;Jackson et al, 1993;Sergelidis et al, 1997;Spiers et al, 1995). Being a psychrotrophic organism, L. monocytogenes is capable of growth at refrigeration temperatures, which means that low numbers of initially contaminating cells may proliferate and become hazardous if present on or transferred to ready-to-eat foods.…”

Incidence of Listeria spp. in domestic refrigerators in Portugal

“…Sergelidis et al (1997) in Greece and Cox et al (1989) in Holland recovered the organism from 2 of 136 and 1 of 35 household refrigerators tested, respectively. However, Jackson et al (1993) in the USA did not recover L. monocytogenes from any of the 195 domestic refrigerators sampled.…”

“…in Portuguese domestic refrigerators and to evaluate some of the hygienic practices in the domestic environment that might contribute to the persistence of the organisms. To our knowledge, this is the first survey into domestic practices that may affect the safety of food products in Portugal, although similar studies have been conducted in other countries (Cox et al, 1989;Jackson et al, 1993;Sergelidis et al, 1997).…”

Listeriaspecies in domestic environments

“…Listerias were detected in the vegetable compartment of only 3-9 % of the 204 refrigerators investigated. Cox and colleagues obtained similar results (1 positive from 35 refrigerators sampled) [10], whereas this pathogen was not isolated by Jackson and colleagues [21]. A possible explanation for the low contamination rates of vegetable compartments in refrigerators maybe that these parts of the refrigerator are likely to be cleaned frequently since they often become visibly soiled.…”