Listeria Statistics UK: 2026 Facts, Data & Key Insights

What Is Listeria?

Listeria monocytogenes is a bacterium that causes listeriosis — a serious foodborne illness. Unlike most other foodborne pathogens, Listeria is remarkable for several characteristics that make it particularly difficult to control: it grows at refrigerator temperatures, survives in low-oxygen environments, tolerates relatively high salt concentrations, and persists in food processing environments for months or years.

Most healthy adults who are exposed to Listeria either experience no symptoms or develop a mild flu-like illness. But in pregnant women, newborns, elderly people, and immunocompromised individuals, listeriosis can cause severe, life-threatening illness — including meningitis, septicaemia, pregnancy complications, miscarriage, and stillbirth.

Listeria has the highest mortality rate of any major foodborne pathogen in the UK. For the broader food poisoning context, see our Food Poisoning Statistics UK guide.

Key Facts & Figures (Overview)

• Approximately 162 confirmed cases of listeriosis occur in the UK per year — making it by far the least common of the major foodborne pathogens.
• Despite low case numbers, Listeria has a mortality rate of approximately 13% — the highest of any major foodborne pathogen. Approximately 26 deaths per year in the UK are attributable to Listeria.
• Listeria kills more people per confirmed case than Salmonella and E. coli O157 combined.
• Each confirmed Listeria case carries an estimated economic burden of approximately £230,748 — the highest of any foodborne pathogen and reflecting the severity of outcomes.
• Seven Listeria monocytogenes outbreaks were investigated in England in 2024, with 44 confirmed cases. Sources included smoked fish, garlic sausage, chocolate mousse, and prepacked sandwiches.
• A national Listeria outbreak between January 2021 and July 2023 involved 20 cases and 3 deaths, linked to smoked fish from a major UK retailer.
• Listeria can grow at refrigerator temperatures (as low as 0°C) — making normal cold chain control insufficient for high-risk ready-to-eat foods in vulnerable settings.
• Pregnant women are approximately 20 times more likely than the general adult population to develop invasive listeriosis.
• The FSA has issued specific guidance restricting certain ready-to-eat foods in NHS hospitals and care homes following repeated Listeria outbreaks in those settings.

Why Listeria Is Uniquely Dangerous

Listeria occupies an unusual position in the food safety landscape. It causes fewer cases than almost any other major pathogen, yet consistently generates the most serious regulatory and public health concern — for four reasons:

It kills a high proportion of those infected. A 13% mortality rate means roughly 1 in 8 confirmed cases ends in death. This compares to mortality rates of under 0.1% for Campylobacter and around 0.3–0.5% for Salmonella.

It grows in the refrigerator. Standard food safety practice uses refrigeration to slow bacterial growth. For most pathogens, keeping food at or below 5°C is an effective control. For Listeria, refrigeration only slows growth — it does not stop it. Food stored in the refrigerator for extended periods can accumulate dangerous levels of Listeria.

It primarily targets the most vulnerable. The healthy adult immune system can typically eliminate Listeria before it causes invasive disease. In pregnant women, the immunocompromised, and the elderly, however, Listeria can overcome immune defences, cross the intestinal wall, enter the bloodstream, and reach the brain or the developing foetus.

It persists in food production environments. Listeria forms biofilms on food contact surfaces, drains, condensate points, and crevices in food processing equipment. Established Listeria contamination in a factory or commercial kitchen environment can be extremely difficult to eliminate, leading to persistent contamination of food produced there.

Listeria in the UK: Recent Outbreaks

Recent Listeria outbreaks in the UK illustrate both the foods involved and the settings where risk is highest:

The 2021–2023 smoked fish outbreak — the most significant recent UK Listeria incident, involving 20 cases and 3 deaths over a two-and-a-half-year period. The outbreak was traced to smoked fish — a recognised high-risk food for Listeria — from a major UK retailer. Whole genome sequencing confirmed the outbreak strain in both patient samples and food products. The protracted nature of the outbreak reflects both the difficulty of identifying smoked fish as a common exposure factor across cases spread over more than two years, and the persistence of Listeria contamination in the food supply chain.

2024 outbreaks — seven Listeria monocytogenes outbreaks were investigated in England in 2024, with 44 confirmed cases. The foods implicated — smoked fish, garlic sausage, chocolate mousse, strawberry mousse, and prepacked sandwiches — are all consistent with high-risk ready-to-eat food categories identified in FSA guidance. Two outbreaks included cases in Wales as well as England.

Hospital sandwich outbreak (2019) — nine deaths were linked to Listeria in prepacked sandwiches and salads supplied to NHS hospitals. This outbreak led directly to the FSA withdrawing generic guidance recommending cold-smoked salmon and other high-risk foods in healthcare settings, and issuing new, more restrictive guidance for hospitals and care homes.

High-Risk Foods for Listeria

The FSA identifies the following food categories as carrying the highest Listeria risk, particularly for vulnerable individuals:

Cold smoked fish — including smoked salmon, smoked trout, and similar products — is one of the most consistently identified Listeria vehicles in the UK. The cold smoking process does not kill Listeria, and the extended refrigerated shelf life of these products allows Listeria to multiply to dangerous levels.

Pâté — liver pâté and similar soft meat spreads are a recognised Listeria vehicle. The FSA advises pregnant women to avoid all pâté.

Soft and semi-soft cheeses — including brie, camembert, and similar mould-ripened cheeses, as well as unpasteurised cheeses. Listeria can multiply in the soft interior of these cheeses during maturation.

Garlic sausage and other deli meats — ready-to-eat cured and cooked meats, particularly sliced deli products, have been implicated in multiple Listeria outbreaks.

Prepacked sandwiches and ready meals — particularly those with extended chilled shelf lives, which provide time for Listeria to multiply if the product becomes contaminated during production.

Sprouted seeds — beansprouts and other sprouted seeds provide an ideal environment for Listeria growth.

Who Is Most at Risk?

Pregnant women face approximately 20 times the risk of invasive listeriosis compared to healthy adults. Listeria infection during pregnancy can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, premature birth, or neonatal listeriosis — meningitis and septicaemia in the newborn. NHS guidance advises pregnant women to avoid pâté, soft cheeses, cold smoked fish, unpasteurised products, and ready-to-eat deli meats entirely.

People over 65 — the majority of non-pregnancy-related Listeria cases occur in older adults. Age-related decline in immune function reduces resistance to invasive Listeria infection.

Immunocompromised individuals — including people receiving chemotherapy, organ transplant recipients on immunosuppressants, and people with HIV — are at significantly elevated risk of invasive listeriosis from foods that would pose minimal risk to a healthy adult.

Newborns — neonatal listeriosis, acquired during or after birth from a mother with listeriosis, carries a mortality rate of approximately 20–30%.

Listeria in Care Homes and Hospitals

The concentration of vulnerable individuals in care homes and hospitals makes Listeria one of the most serious food safety risks in those settings. The FSA's guidance specifically addresses food provision in healthcare and care settings:

Following the 2019 hospital sandwich deaths, the FSA withdrew guidance recommending cold-smoked salmon and other high-risk ready-to-eat products in NHS hospitals. Current FSA guidance for healthcare settings advises:

• Avoid serving cold smoked fish (smoked salmon, smoked trout) to patients
• Avoid serving pâté of any kind
• Avoid serving soft and mould-ripened cheeses
• Avoid serving prepacked sandwiches with extended shelf lives where alternatives exist
• Ensure all cook-chill meals are reheated to 75°C throughout before serving

For care homes specifically, the same restrictions apply for all residents regardless of individual health status, given the generally elevated risk profile of care home residents.

The Cost of Listeria

Despite its low case volume, Listeria imposes a substantial economic burden precisely because of the severity of its outcomes. The FSA's Cost of Illness model estimates the average cost per Listeria case at approximately £230,748 — the highest of any foodborne pathogen and approximately 100 times the average cost per Campylobacter case (£2,380).

This extreme per-case cost reflects the frequency of hospitalisation (nearly all confirmed Listeria cases require hospital admission), the cost of intensive care treatment, the human cost of death and permanent disability, and in pregnancy-related cases, the cost associated with foetal loss and neonatal illness.

For food businesses serving vulnerable populations, a Listeria outbreak carries catastrophic financial as well as human consequences — as demonstrated by the prosecutions and closures following the 2019 NHS hospital sandwich deaths.

Preventing Listeria in Food Businesses

The key controls for food businesses, particularly those serving vulnerable groups, are:

• Strict temperature control — maintain refrigerators at 5°C or below and verify temperatures daily; even brief periods at elevated temperatures accelerate Listeria growth
• Short shelf lives for high-risk ready-to-eat products — do not extend shelf life beyond manufacturer's guidance
• Rigorous environmental monitoring — test drains, condensate points, and food contact surfaces for Listeria regularly; investigate positive results immediately
• Supplier assurance — verify that suppliers have robust Listeria controls in place, particularly for smoked fish, deli meats, and soft cheeses
• Thorough cooking — cook-chill meals served to vulnerable groups must reach 75°C throughout before service
• Staff training — food handlers serving vulnerable groups must understand which foods carry Listeria risk and why they are subject to specific controls

Written by Food Safety Experts

This guide was produced by the team at Food Hygiene Certificate, a UK provider of RoSPA-approved and CPD-accredited online food hygiene training. For the full UK food poisoning picture, see our Food Poisoning Statistics UK guide, and for data on other major pathogens see our guides to Campylobacter, Salmonella, E. coli, Norovirus, and Allergen Incidents.

Sources & References

• FSA – Foodborne Disease Policy Overview
• FSA – Annual Report of Incidents, Resilience and Prevention 2024/25
• FSA – The Burden of Foodborne Disease in the UK 2018
• UK Food Security Report 2024: Theme 5 – Food Safety
• Food Safety News – Early 2025 UK Data Shows Continued Rise in Infections
• BMJ Open – Estimating Deaths from Foodborne Disease in the UK for 11 Key Pathogens