{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,23]],"date-time":"2026-09-23T02:14:39Z","timestamp":1790129679327,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":53,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,6]],"date-time":"2025-10-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1759708800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Microbiol."],"abstract":"<jats:p><jats:italic>Listeria monocytogenes<\/jats:italic> contamination in ready-to-eat chilled pot skewer products represent a significant public health concern in China. This study assessed the prevalence, molecular characteristics, and potential transmission risks of <jats:italic>L. monocytogenes<\/jats:italic> in 340 commercially available chilled pot skewer samples collected in 2019 and 2021. Bacterial isolation revealed an overall contamination rate of 20.6% (70\/340), with no significant differences among meat-based (15.5%), vegetarian (19.5%), or mixed meat-vegetable (26.5%) products. Serogroups 1\/2b, 3b, 7 (47.4%) and 1\/2a, 3 (35.5%) predominated. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) identified high-risk clones ST87 (27.6%) and ST121 (22.4%)\u2014both associated with listeriosis outbreaks\u2014along with rare lineages such as ST378 (1.3%). Core genome MLST (cgMLST) analysis of 76 isolates revealed extensive genetic diversity (59 cgMLST types), suggesting multiple contamination sources within production facilities. However, persistence of specific strains (\u2264 2 allelic differences) across time points (2019\u20132021) was observed in certain manufacturers. Comparative genomics with clinical isolates from Beijing (2013\u20132022) revealed shared sequence types (e.g., ST87\/CC87). These findings underscore the urgent need for enhanced surveillance in food processing environments. Future investigations should adopt a One Health framework to trace contamination routes and evaluate intervention control measures for this emerging food safety challenge.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fmicb.2025.1681344","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,6]],"date-time":"2025-10-06T05:22:09Z","timestamp":1759728129000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Prevalence and characteristics of Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat chilled pot skewer products"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Yuzhu","family":"Liu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Penghang","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Di","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bowenxin","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yi","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiaoyuan","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,6]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"46","DOI":"10.1186\/s12866-017-0956-z","article-title":"Microbial survey of ready-to-eat salad ingredients sold at retail reveals the occurrence and the persistence of listeria monocytogenes sequence types 2 and 87 in pre-packed smoked salmon","volume":"17","author":"Chau","year":"2017","journal-title":"BMC Microbiol."},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"642","DOI":"10.3389\/fmicb.2020.00642","article-title":"Heterogeneity, characteristics, and public health implications of listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat foods and pasteurized milk in China","volume":"11","author":"Chen","year":"2020","journal-title":"Front. 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