A simplified modelling approach established to determine the Listeria monocytogenes behaviour during processing and storage of a traditional (Italian) ready-to-eat food in accordance with the European Commission Regulation N 2073/2005

This paper considers the applications of the European Commission (EC) Regulation N 2073/2005 concerning Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat (RTE) food products. A simplified modelling approach (SMA), which is intended for a practical evaluation of the behaviour of the pathogen during processing and storage of an RTE meat product (Pitina) from traditional producers, was presented. This approach included a growth/no-growth model, which was developed by using the limits adopted as safety criteria by the EU, a model based on the gamma concept (GM) and a kinetic three-phase model (TPL). Based on the findings of the present study, Pitina was incapable of supporting the growth of L. monocytogenes and the no-growth conditions assessed through the shelf life by the model were confirmed by challenge testing. When the simplified approach was used to estimate the total pathogen growth relative to the Pitina multistage process, taking into account the effects of various hurdles, it provided predictions of L. monocytogenes growth corresponding to the observed data in the inoculation studies. Therefore, this simplified approach is expected to enable the food producers to identify appropriate processing conditions. The successfully validated SMA was found sufficiently complex to predict growth responses of L. monocytogenes in RTE foods, but at the same time easy-to-use for practical processing situations.