Listeria monocytogenes, in fresh and ready‐to‐eat produce such as whole fresh apples, is of concern as there is no “kill step” in their packing process that would eliminate the pathogenic bacteria. Recent listeriosis outbreaks revealed that insufficient cleaning and sanitation practices in fresh apple packing houses may lead to contamination of fruit with L. monocytogenes. This article discusses three fundamental aspects for ensuring microbiological safety of fresh apples: protection of fresh apples from microbial contamination during the packing process, decontamination intervention techniques, and the challenges in removal of L. monocytogenes from fresh apples. Currently used and novel methods of fresh produce decontamination are discussed and evaluated on their usefulness for the apple packing process. Additionally, present regulatory requirements, possible routes of produce contamination, and bacteria attachment and survival mechanisms are described. Optimum methods for microbial decontamination of whole fresh apples are still to be determined. Critical aspects that should be considered in developing the interventions include apple morphology, conditions and scale of the packing process, and influence of the interventions on apple quality. Evaluation of the currently used and emerging decontamination methods indicated that the hurdle technology and rotating use of sanitizers to avoid development of bacterial biofilm resistance may give the best results, although not conclusively.

中文翻译：

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食品安全干预以控制新鲜苹果包装行业中的单核细胞增生李斯特菌：回顾

新鲜和即食产品（例如整个新鲜苹果）中的单核细胞增生李斯特菌引起关注，因为在其包装过程中没有消除致病菌的“杀死步骤”。最近的李斯特菌病暴发表明，新鲜的苹果包装房中清洁和卫生措施不足，可能导致单核细胞增生李斯特氏菌污染水果。本文讨论了确保新鲜苹果微生物安全的三个基本方面：保护新鲜苹果免于包装过程中的微生物污染，去污干预技术以及去除单核细胞增生李斯特菌的挑战从新鲜的苹果。对新鲜农产品的当前使用和新颖方法进行了讨论，并对它们在苹果包装过程中的实用性进行了评估。此外，还介绍了当前的法规要求，可能的生产污染途径以及细菌附着和存活机制。整个新鲜苹果的微生物净化的最佳方法仍有待确定。制定干预措施时应考虑的关键方面包括苹果形态，包装过程的条件和规模，以及干预措施对苹果品质的影响。对当前使用的和正在出现的去污方法的评估表明，障碍技术和消毒剂的轮换使用避免了细菌对生物膜的抵抗力的发展，尽管不是最终结论，但它可能会产生最佳结果。