Efficacy of Octanoic Acid and Lauric Arginate, Individually and in Combination, against Listeria monocytogenes in Domiati Cheese

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Listeria monocytogenes is a significant foodborne pathogen that causes foodborne related deaths globally with a death rate of ~30% (Nyarko and Donnelly, 2015). Recently, it was reported that L. monocytogenes caused approximately 44% of deaths resulting from foodborne outbreaks in European Union countries in 2022 (EFSA and ECDC, 2023). This pathogen mostly affects immune compromised individuals, including pregnant women, neonates, and the elderly causing septicemia, stillbirth, and meningitis. Less severe symptoms associated with healthy individuals exhibiting symptoms of mild influenza and gastroenteritis (Thakur et al., 2018). Soft cheese is frequently implicated in listeriosis outbreaks (CDC, 2021; Heiman et al., 2016; Palacios et al., 2022). During 2000-2014, recorded listeriosis outbreaks (51), a total of 17(34%) were linked to soft cheese, leading to ~180 illnesses, 17 deaths, and 14 fetal losses in the United States. Interestingly, 13(77%) of these outbreaks were linked to the consumption of pasteurized cheese (Jackson et al., 2018) indicating the insufficiency of pasteurization to control L. monocytogenes in soft cheese. Therefore, a greater effort is needed to control L. monocytogenes throughout the manufacturing and storage of soft cheese. Domiati cheese, as one of the most popular white soft cheeses in the Middle Eastern countries including Egypt could be a major cause of foodborne illnesses such as L. monocytogenes (El-Kholy et al., 2014). It may be referred to the capability of L. monocytogenes to survive and grow at a wide range of temperatures (-.4 to 45°C), a high salt concentration, and a relatively low pH (Bucur et al., 2018).