Sensitive enumeration of Listeria monocytogenes and other Listeria species in various naturally contaminated matrices using a membrane filtration method

•We developed an enumeration method for Listeria monocytogenes in food samples.•This method is based on membrane filtration.•The limit of quantification of the standard method is 10 cfu·g−1.•The limit of quantification od filtration method is better: 0.2 cfu·g−1.

For the enumeration of Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes) in food, a sensitive enumeration method has been recently developed. This method is based on a membrane filtration of the food suspension followed by transfer of the filter on a selective medium to enumerate L. monocytogenes.An evaluation of this method was performed with several categories of foods naturally contaminated with L. monocytogenes. The results obtained with this technique were compared with those obtained from the modified reference EN ISO 11290-2 method for the enumeration of L. monocytogenes in food, and are found to provide more precise results. In most cases, the filtration method enabled to examine a greater quantity of food thus greatly improving the sensitivity of the enumeration. However, it was hardly applicable to some food categories because of filtration problems and background microbiota interference.