Abstract/Summary

Ready to eat foods (RTE) despite having many advantages, they are associated with the occurrence of foodborne cases and outbreaks raising concerns about their safety. Several RTE foods rely on acidic conditions to inhibit growth of pathogens. However, bacteria such as Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella, Escherichia coli, Clostridium botulinum, Clostridium perfringens can survive and grow under the acid conditions in these acidic RTE foods posing a health risk. L. monocytogenes is one of the most important foodborne pathogens as the most deadly one, causing the highest number of deaths than any other bacterial foodborne pathogen. This bacterium uses various mechanisms to survive under acidic conditions that also allow it to pass through the stomach. Glutamate decarboxylase and arginine deiminase are the most important systems while other mechanisms also contribute to acid resistance. This chapter focuses on how L. monocytogenes is able to survive in acidic RTE foods and cause disease.