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Souse is a fully cooked, ready-to-eat gelled pork product. There is a zero-tolerance policy for Listeria monocytogenesin ready-to-eat meat products. The survival and/or growth of L. monocytogenesin souse is unknown. The effectiveness of three different souse formulations (pH 4.3, 4.7, and 5.1) for controlling the growth of L. monocytogenesat two refrigerated storage temperatures (5 and 10°C) was evaluated. All products were vacuum packaged. Uninoculated product was prepared as the control, and other products were artificially surface contaminated with a three-strain cocktail of L. monocytogenes(106CFU/cm2). Microbial counts were obtained on selective and nonselective media twice weekly through 8 weeks of storage. Souse did not support the growth of L. monocytogenesregardless of product formulation or storage temperature. At 5°C, D-values for products with pH values of 4.7 and 5.1 were not different, but survival of L. monocytogenesin product with a lower pH (4.3) was decreased compared with survival in products with higher pH values (P< 0.05). Survival of L. monocytogeneswas not impacted by storage temperatures (P> 0.05). Consumer acceptability (n= 75 souse consumers) of pH 4.3 products was not different from that for (typical) pH 4.7 products (P> 0.05). These results indicate that conventionally produced souse does not support the growth of L. monocytogenesand that inactivation of the organism is more likely in products formulated at a lower pH (≤4.3) without affecting consumer acceptance.