6) Listeria showing disinfectant resistance
Concerning news surfaced last month about Listeria developing resistance to some compounds in disinfectants frequently used to kill it in dairies and food processing plants.
Researchers said the disinfectants used for cleaning are often quaternary ammonium compounds (QAC) such as benzalkonium chloride (BC).
Between 10 to 46% of L. monocytogenes strains isolated from food and food processing environments can be regarded as BC tolerant.
Researchers found that a noval piece of DNA, a novel transposon in L. monocytogenes, was conferring tolerance to BC.
The mechanism of the gram-positive bacteria’s resistance to benzalkonium chloride was uncovered at Stephan Schmitz-Esser at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna (Vetmeduni Vienna).