Chilled
Ready-To-Eat
Food Production

Chilled Ready-to-eat (RTE) food production is one of the most challenging in the food industry, particularly in relation to microbial control.

With our microbiological expertise and extensive range of control options, let Vikan help you put the ‘chill’ back into your chilled food production.
Chilled Ready-To-Eat (RTE) foods are foods that will not be cooked or reheated before serving.
They include salads (containing fruit, vegetables, beans,

sprouts, pulses, grains, egg, pasta etc.), cooked and cured meats, smoked fish, sushi, chilled desserts, sandwiches, cheese, and food that has been cooked in advance to serve cold. All require the highest standards of hygienic production to ensure maximum shelf-life and consumer safety.

Of greatest concern in the production of chilled RTE foods is the control of Listeria monocytogenes (L. mono) a common bacterium in nature, that may be found in any food environment, and that is typically transmitted via food to cause serious disease (Listeriosis) in humans.

Listeriosis is a relatively rare disease but the high death rate associated with the infection makes it of significant concern. L. mono is a particular challenge in chilled RTE food production because, unlike most bacteria, it can survive and grow in chilled conditions. The presence of L. mono in foods is regulated in Europe according to Regulation (EC) No. 2073/2005 on microbiological criteria for foodstuffs, which includes limits for the number of L. mono permissible in chilled RTE foods.

Chilled RTE foods are also susceptible to rapid microbial spoilage. Consequently, strict hygiene control, of both the production environment and the food production equipment, is essential to maximise consumer safety and product shelf-life. 

So how can Vikan help? As experts in hygiene control, we can advise on how to minimise the risk of L. mono in your product and factory environment.

Read more about Listeria

Read about biofilms