Tuesday, 20 January 2026
Guidance Note 45 aims to support ready-to-eat food businesses in meeting their legal requirements to sample the processing area and equipment for L. monocytogenes by implementing an L. monocytogenes environmental monitoring (LEM) programme under their food safety management system.
The purpose of an LEM programme is to detect, investigate, manage and/or eliminate potential sources of L. monocytogenes in the environment of the food business in order to minimise the risk of cross-contamination to ready-to-eat food products. Controlling L. monocytogenes is essential at all stages of the food production process.
While Commission Regulation (EC) No 2073/2005 specifies the processing area and equipment must be sampled for L. monocytogenes in ready-to-eat food business operations, it does not provide a microbiological criterion to assess the test results, nor does it provide information on what actions to take when L. monocytogenes is detected in the food business operation’s environment. This new resource provides best practice advice to food businesses on how to develop a robust LEM programme, including recommended actions to be taken in the event of a detection.
You can download an Excel template “Appendix 3: Example Master Swabbing Schedule Template” using the link below. This file is provided as part of Guidance Note 45 and is designed to help you schedule and record swabbing activities, as well as trend LEM data.
