Aims: To evaluate the potential of sakacin P and sakacin P-producing Lactobacillus sakei for the inhibition of growth of Listeria monocytogenes in chicken cold cuts, by answering the following questions. (i) Is sakacin P actually produced in food? (ii) Is sakacin P produced in situ responsible for the inhibiting effect? (iii) How stable is sakacin P in food? Methods and Results: Listeria monocytogenes , a Lact. sakei strain and/or the bacteriocin sakacin P were added to chicken cold cuts, vacuum packed and incubated at 4 or 10degreesC for 4 weeks. Each of two isogenic Lact. sakei strains, one producing sakacin P and the other not, had an inhibiting effect on the growth of L. monocytogenes . The effect of these two isogenic strains on the growth of L. monocytogenes was indistinguishable, even though sakacin P was produced in the product by one of the two Lact. sakei strains. The addition of purified sakacin P had an inhibiting effect on the growth of L. monocytogenes . A high dosage of sakacin P (3.5 mug g(-1) ) had a bacteriostatic effect throughout the storage period of 4 weeks, while a low dosage (12 ng g(-1) ) permitted initial growth, but at a slow rate. After 4 weeks of storage, the number of L. monocytogenes in the samples with a low dosage of sakacin P was 2 logs below that in the untreated control. When using a high dosage of sakacin P, the bacteriocin was detected in samples stored for up to 6 weeks. Conclusions: (i) Sakacin P is produced by a Lact. sakei strain when growing on vacuum-packed chicken cold cuts. (ii) Inhibiting effects of Lact. sakei , other than sakacin P, are active in inhibiting the growth of L. monocytogenes growing on chicken cold cuts. (iii) Sakacin P is stable on chicken cold cuts over a period of 4 weeks. Significance and Impact of the Study: Both sakacin P and Lact. sakei were found to have potential for use in the control of L. monocytogenes in chicken cold cuts.