Prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes at retail in different countries is necessary to evaluate exposure of consumers.
We integrated the EU monitoring program with other 2696 samples of RTE cheese and meat products at retail in Italy.
Soft and semi-soft cheese at retail in Italy are more contaminated than EU mean.
Cheese rinds are more probably contaminated by L. monocytogenes than cheese pastes.
Presence of prevalent pulsotype in products from the same establishment suggests environmental source of contamination.