Quoted: Listeria is a problem because of its unique ability to keep growing even when refrigerated. Lunch meats are cooked at food-processing plants, and the bacteria in them is killed when they?re prepared and packaged, says Jeff Sindelar, a professor of meat science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The problem with cold cuts and lunch meats is that once they?re sliced, or the package is opened, if even a single cell of listeria from a contaminated surface, a meat slicer or even the air gets on them, it can continue to grow in the refrigerator.
Office of Strategic Communication