Developing new products just right is crucial not only to deliver the taste, texture, and shelf life that consumers expect, but also to meet the highest standards of food safety. Food safety is non-negotiable, especially when it comes to controlling Listeria monocytogenes, one of the most persistent challenges in ready-to-eat and refrigerated foods. Traditionally, ensuring protection against L. monocytogenes has required extensive testing, multiple reformulations, and long delays before products can reach the market. These steps are necessary, but they also slow down innovation and increase costs.
To overcome these hurdles, Corbion has developed a suite of data-driven tools, calculators, and predictive models designed to help customers identify their optimal formulations with just a few clicks. Among them is the Corbion Listeria Control Model , a science-based tool developed to provide product developers with a smarter approach to developing safer products.
What is the Corbion Listeria Control Model?
The Corbion Listeria Control Model (CLCM) is a predictive tool that simulates the growth of Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat meats and refrigerated foods. By modeling how L. monocytogenes behaves under different conditions, food developers can evaluate various preservation strategies and safety controls early in the development process. Key highlights of the CLCM include:
- Data foundation: Based on over 2 decades of Listeria and microbiological know-how and built on a robust dataset of more than 2,500 individual growth curves from statistically designed experiments.
- Scientific value: Estimates the growth of Listeria monocytogenes in food with specific food characteristics. Transforms the uncertainty of microbial risk into predictable outcomes, empowering the food developers to innovate with confidence.
- Industry use: Widely applied in ready-to-eat meats, seafood, dairy, plant-based foods, and other refrigerated categories where L. monocytogenes is a concern.
What are the practical benefits of the Corbion Listeria Control Model?
- Test with commercialized products.
- Increase efficacy & faster product development cycle.
- Fewer testing trials and reduced costs.
- Stronger L. monocytogenes risk management.
- Greater confidence in product safety and shelf life.
- Comply with regulatory and regional legislation.
Frequently Asked Questions about the Corbion Listeria Control Model
The Corbion Listeria Control Model is a predictive growth model that helps food processors forecast the behavior of Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat (RTE) meat and refrigerated foods, supporting safer product development.
Key advantages include:
- More accurate predictions of Listeria growth.
- Better design and interpretation of challenge studies.
- Improved ability to maintain compliance with food safety standards.
- Support in developing longer-lasting, safer ready-to-eat (RTE) products.
By simulating Listeria growth under various environmental conditions, the model increases the relevance of challenge studies and provides insights that make food safety testing more efficient and reliable.
The model is built on over 2,500 individual growth curves from statistically designed experiments, making it one of the most comprehensive predictive tools available for ready-to-eat (RTE) meat and chilled foods.
Both large and small food companies in the meat and refrigerated foods industry use the model to design safer products, optimize preservation strategies, and meet regulatory requirements.