both regulatory agencies responsible for US public food safety policies, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS), have maintained a ‘‘zero-tolerance’’ policy with regard to this organism in RTE foods (FDA/FSIS/ CDC, 2003).
Under the FDA’s policy, no detection of L.
monocytogenes should be found in either two of the 25 g
samples of RTE foods tested. Although this policy may
seem stringent, it is necessary to ensure the safety of RTE
foods distributed in US.