Prevalence and contamination levels of Listeria monocytogenes in smoked fish and pâté sold in Spain.

From March to November 2000, 170 samples of smoked fish and 182 samples of pâté for sale in retail outlets and supermarkets in the nine provinces of Castilla and León (Spain) were analyzed for the prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes and other Listeria spp. L. monocytogenes was isolated from 38 (22.3%) of the 170 samples of smoked fish analyzed. Twenty of these positive samples contained L. monocytogenes at >100 CFU/g. Other Listeria spp., such as Listeria innocua (26 isolates), Listeria grayi (9), Listeria welshimeri (3), Listeria seeligeri (3), and Listeria ivanovii (2), were also detected. L. monocytogenes was isolated from 5.4% of the 182 samples of pâté. Only 1 of the 10 positive samples harbored >100 L. monocytogenes CFU/g. Two other species of Listeria were observed in pâté: L. innocua (12 isolates) and L. grayi (2).