RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article T1 Frozen Vegetable Processing Plants Can Harbour Diverse Listeria monocytogenes Populations: Identification of Critical Operations by WGS A1 Truchado, Pilar A1 Gil, María I. A1 Pino Querido-Ferreira, Ania A1 López Capón, Cecilia A1 Álvarez Ordóñez, Avelino A1 Allende, Ana A2 Tecnologia de los Alimentos K1 Tecnología de los alimentos K1 Environmental monitoring K1 Whole genomic sequencing K1 Freezing plants K1 Food safety K1 Microbial risk K1 3309 Tecnología de Los Alimentos AB [EN]Frozen vegetables have emerged as a concern due to their association with foodborne outbreaks such as the multi-country outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes serogroup IVb linked to frozen corn. The capacity of L. monocytogenes to colonize food-processing environments is well-known, making the bacteria a real problem for consumers. However, the significance of the processing environment in the contamination of frozen foods is not well established. This study aimed to identify potential contamination niches of L. monocytogenes in a frozen processing plant and characterize the recovered isolates. A frozen vegetable processing plant was monitored before cleaning activities. A total of 78 points were sampled, including frozen vegetables. Environmental samples belonged to food-contact surfaces (FCS); and non-food-contact surfaces (n-FCS). Positive L. monocytogenes samples were found in FCS (n = 4), n-FCS (n = 9), and the final product (n = 1). A whole-genome sequencing (WGS) analysis revealed two clusters belonging to serotypes 1/2a-3a and 1/2b-3b). The genetic characterization revealed the presence of four different sequence types previously detected in the food industry. The isolate obtained from the final product was the same as one isolate found in n-FCS. A multi-virulence-locus sequence typing (MVLST) analysis showed four different virulence types (VT). The results obtained highlight the relevant role that n-FCS such as floors and drains can play in spreading L. monocytogenes contamination to the final product. PB MDPI LK https://hdl.handle.net/10612/20245 UL https://hdl.handle.net/10612/20245 NO Truchado, P., Gil, M. I., Querido Ferreira, A. P., Capón, C. L., Álvarez Ordoñez, A., & Allende, A. (2022). Frozen Vegetable Processing Plants Can Harbour Diverse Listeria monocytogenes Populations: Identification of Critical Operations by WGS. Foods, 11(11), Article e1546. https://doi.org/10.3390/FOODS11111546 DS BULERIA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de León RD 26-jun-2024