The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) worked collaboratively with the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (FDA/CFSAN) in consultation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and received input from industry, academic institutions, and consumer advocacy group stakeholders to conduct an “Interagency Risk Assessment: Listeria monocytogenes in Retail Delicatessens” as described in FSIS’s September 2013 Technical Report.  FSIS incorporated the key findings into its 2014 FSIS Best Practices Guidance for Controlling Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) in Retail Delicatessens Compliance Guidelines (Retail Lm Guidance).  In January 2016, FSIS launched a multi-year nationwide pilot project to collect surveillance data to assess whether retail delicatessens are using the recommendations in the Retail Lm Guidance.

In a December 10, 2021 Constituent Update, FSIS announced that as of September 30, 2021, it discontinued its retail Lm surveillance because data analysis has shown that retailers have consistently followed a high percentage of the recommendations.  Since the pilot project was launched in 2016, FSIS investigators completed a total of 7,114 questionnaires in retail delis to determine the adoption rate of the recommendations.  In the fourth quarter of FY 2021, FSIS reviewed 155 questionnaires completed by investigators in retail delis.  The agency exceeded its voluntary compliance targets with the retailers following 93% of the 33 recommendations (target 92%) and with 75% of retailers following all eight of the most important guidelines (target 64%).

Moving forward, FSIS will continue steps to educate the industry on its Retail Lm Guidance and associated best practices.  FSIS intends to broaden its reach by partnering with retail trade associations and state regulatory authorities to assist in the distribution of educational materials for this initiative.