New EU Listeria rules from 1 July 2026

From 1 July 2026, new EU requirements for Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat foods will apply under Commission Regulation (EU) 2024/2895 regards Listeria monocytogenes, which amends Regulation (EC) No 2073/2005.

What’s changing

From the 2073/2005 regulations – for ready-to-eat foods that support growth of Listeria monocytogenes, there are two possible criteria that can be applied, and which one you use depends on your evidence:

• If you can demonstrate that levels will not exceed 100 cfu/g throughout shelf life, then the 100 cfu/g criteria applies.
• If you cannot demonstrate this, then the “not detected in 25 g” criteria applies.

Before the 2024 amendment, the ND requirement applied before the product left the manufacturer’s control when the business couldn’t demonstrate that Listeria monocytogenes would not exceed 100 cfu/g over shelf life.

In the 2024 amendment, the ND requirement now also applies after the product has left the manufacturer’s control, when the business can’t demonstrate that Listeria monocytogenes would not exceed 100 cfu/g over shelf life.

How this would be applied in practice

Businesses producing ready to eat products must be able to prove that they do not exceed 100cfu/g over the product shelf life (if they are applying the ≤100 cfu/g criteria rather than the ND in 25g criteria).

During the development of a product, this would include validating using worst case scenarios:

• The manufacturing controls to prevent Listeria monocytogenes.
• The intrinsic controls and the storage controls to prevent the growth of Listeria monocytogenes if it was present in the product.

Where the product did not achieve ≤100 cfu/g over life, the product and the process should be redeveloped to resolve the issues identified during the validation.

When would the ND in 25g criteria be applied?

So this leads you to think – well when would you use the ND in 25g criteria? Let’s imagine a couple of situations…

We’re carrying out validation of a product that is already being supplied to the market. The validation hasn’t been done before and we’re in the process of gathering all the data and test results we need. In this instance, the ND criteria would apply, as you can’t yet prove control over life to ≤100 cfu/g.

Or you’ve just completed a validation of a product that’s already being supplied to the market, and the validation has proved that control over life to ≤100 cfu/g. isn’t possible with the current formulation and processing controls. This means that the product must be reformulated, however during this time, the ND in 25g criteria must be applied.

So how often would you test when applying the ND in 25g criteria?

The regulations don’t tell you how often to test, whether to test every batch or how many batches to test over time. It does however tell you (in the Annex, Chapter 1) – how many samples to test and how many allowable positives are acceptable (out of spec results). You would need to complete a risk assessment to determine the frequency of the testing you were going to do.

More information

For more information the Chilled Foods Association provide guidance, which is recommended by FSA: Assuring safety of ready to eat food in relation to Listeria monocytog – chilledfoodassociation