The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced this week they are seeking comments and scientific data to update their 2003 risk assessment of foodborne Listeria monocytogenesSpecifically the agencies are looking into the relationship between the pathogen in selected categories of ready-to-eat (RTE) foods and human health.  FSIS and FDA want to incorporate newly available scientific data and information into the current risk assessment in order to improve their estimates of the relative risk of illness and death from consuming different types of RTE foods that may be contaminated with L. monocytogenes and to evaluate the relative effectiveness of strategies to reduce or prevent exposure to this pathogen from the consumption of these foods.

Comments and data must be submitted on or before July 6.  A copy of the Federal Register announcement is available at: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2011/pdf/2011-8360.pdf.