Profiling Listeria monocytogenes in Hummus, Fresh Produce, and Food Processing Environments in the Western Cape, South Africa.

ABSTRACT: Listeria monocytogenes is pervasive in agricultural environments and difficult to eradicate from food-processing facilities. Consequently, various foods become contaminated, posing health risks to immunocompromised individuals. This surveillance study aimed to enhance the understanding of the genetic diversity, virulence, plasmid content, sanitizer tolerance, and antibiotic resistance of L. monocytogenes from ready-to-eat (RTE) hummus, fresh produce and food-processing environments in the Western Cape, South Africa (2018-2021). Sixty L. monocytogenes isolates were classified as lineage I or lineage II using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Lineage I was notably prevalent overall (57%; n = 34) and significantly associated with fresh produce (88%

SUBMITTER: du Toit SA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12417568 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature