Deli Meats

Ham, bacon, salami, and other deli meats, as well as hot dogs, can be a source of food poisoning. While being processed and manufactured, they are prone to pollution from dangerous bacteria like Listeria and Staphylococcus aureus at different phases.

Direct contamination can happen while touching contaminated raw meat by poor hygiene by deli staff, but it can also happen indirectly through poor cleaning techniques and cross-contamination from unclean equipment like slicer blades. Listeria contamination levels in sliced beef, turkey, chicken, ham, and paté have been observed at 0 to 6%. Of all the deaths brought on by deli meats contaminated with Listeria, deli meat packed and sliced at deli counters was responsible for 83% of them, while pre-packaged deli meat items were responsible for 17%. It is important to remember that if meat is not prepared or kept correctly, it all represents a threat of food poisoning.