A Scoping Review of Thermal and Nonthermal Technologies for Listeria monocytogenes Inactivation in Ready-to-Eat Meats

Listeria monocytogenes continues to present a significant food safety challenge in ready-to-eat (RTE) products, despite existing regulatory standards and antimicrobial intervention strategies. To manage the risk of L. monocytogenes in RTE meats, food producers and researchers have explored a range of intervention strategies, broadly categorized into thermal treatments and nonthermal technologies. This scoping review aimed to map and synthesize the available evidence on the effects of these technologies against L. monocytogenes in RTE meats. Three electronic bibliographic databases (Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science Core Collection) were searched using terms that reflected three concepts: RTE meat, L. monocytogenes, and microbial inactivation. Of 1111 records initially retrieved, 74 studies met the inclusion criteria. High-pressure processing (HPP) was the most frequently investigated technique for inactivating L. monocytogenes in RTE meats (29/74, 39.2%), followed by thermal treatment (18/74, 24.3%). Thermal processes and ionizing radiation generally produced the most consistent and substantial reductions across the reviewed studies. However, several nonthermal approaches, including HPP, cold plasma, pulsed light, and ultraviolet (UV) light, showed more variable performance, depending strongly on treatment intensity, product characteristics, and study conditions. These findings indicate that intervention performance in RTE meats should be interpreted in relation to process parameters, matrix effects, and posttreatment behavior during storage rather than by reduction magnitude alone. Overall, this review provides an RTE meat-focused synthesis of the current evidence base and identifies methodological priorities for future studies evaluating thermal and nonthermal control strategies for L. monocytogenes.