ANTIMICROBIAL EFFECT OF ORGANIC ACIDS TO INHIBIT THE GROWTH OF LISTERIA MONOCYTOGENES INTO THE READY-TO-EAT PRODUCTS

The food safety concern in relation with Listeria monocytogenes (LM) represents a reality and the pur-pose of this article is to highlight that using the organic acids represent a useful measure to inhibit the growth of LM into ready to eat products during of shelf life. LM infection is a foodborne zoonoses that affect humans as mild illness (the gastro-enteric form or non-inva-sive form) or as severe illness (the invasive form), in relation to the physiological condition of the individual. LM could contaminate ready-to-eat products, both of animal and non-animal origin, due to its special beha-viour in relation to environmental conditions. The prevention of this disease is a continuing concern, hence the use of organic acids to preserve the RTE is a good food safety measure. In this paper, we are presenting the antimicrobial effect of organic acids to eliminate and/or inhibit the growth of LM in RTE products based on mayonnaise throughout the shelf life of the pro-duct. One of these is the dry buffered vinegar which contains acetic acid that has an important antimicro-bial with strong antagonistic action against LM.