Bacteriophages and Food Safety

Abstract

Interest in using bacteriophages to improve food safety has been gaining momentum recently, driven by both the continued occurrence of foodborne outbreaks worldwide and the desire of consumers for natural foods. Bacteriophages are naturally part of the normal microflora of many foods, and the ‘phage biocontrol’ approach is based on the concept of using the right phage, in the right place, in the right concentration to control foodborne pathogens. This approach has been applied to three main areas of food safety: (1) pre‐harvest treatment of livestock, (2) decontamination of inanimate surfaces in the processing environment and (3) post‐harvest treatment (i.e. direct food applications). The last type of intervention has perhaps received the most attention, with an increasing number of studies supporting the idea that bacteriophages may provide a safe, environmentally friendly and effective approach for improving food safety, by significantly reducing contamination of various foods with specific foodborne bacterial pathogens. Key Concepts Bacteriophages may provide a safe, environmentally friendly and effective approach for significantly reducing contamination of various foods with foodborne bacterial pathogens. Several bacteriophage products are commercially available for use in pre‐harvest applications, on food contact surfaces and for direct food (post‐harvest) applications. Bacteriophages are specific; they kill the target pathogen and do not affect the natural microflora of foods. Bacteriophages can reduce levels of bacterial pathogens on food contact surfaces in as little as 5‐min contact time. Bacteriophages can reduce levels of the targeted bacterial pathogen on a variety of foods, including, but not limited to, dairy products, fruits and vegetables and poultry.

Bacteriophages safely reduceSalmonellacontamination in pet food and raw pet food ingredients

“…Lytic bacteriophages are becoming increasingly utilized for improving the safety of human food supply, yet their application in the pet food industry is still very limited (reviewed in 14,16 ). In a previous study, we reported the application of the same Salmonella phage preparation significantly reduced Salmonella contamination of dry pet food.…”

“…14 SalmoLyse Ò is composed of 6 lytic phages effective against Salmonella strains belonging to some of the most common and highly pathogenic serotypes, including Typhimurium, Enteritidis, Heidelberg, Newport, Hadar, Kentucky, Thompson, Georgia, Agona, Grampian, Senftenberg, Alachua, Infantis, Reading, and Schwarzengrund. 14,15 During previous studies, SalmoLyse reduced Salmonella by ca. 1 log in dry kibble.…”

Bacteriophage preparation lytic for Shigella significantly reduces Shigella sonnei contamination in various foods

“…coli O157:H7, and Salmonella are currently on the market. These preparations offer safe and effective intervention modalities for removing their targeted bacteria from various foods, without altering organoleptic qualities of those foods and their normal microflora / nutritional characteristics [16]. After ShigaShield ™ becomes commercially available, it will be another addition to that growing family of all natural lytic phage preparations that can serve as an important additional tool for reducing the levels of Shigella in our foods and making them safer to eat.…”

“…Lytic phages have a potent, highly specific bactericidal activity against their targeted bacterial cells–a feature that enables a targeted killing of specific problem-causing bacteria in various settings, without disturbing the normal–and often beneficial–microflora. Various bacteriophage-based food additives have been approved by the FDA for food safety applications, including (listed in chronological order of receipt of regulatory approval in the USA): ListShield ™ , Listex P-100 ™ , EcoShield ™ , SalmoFresh ™ and Salmonelex ™ [16]. Here, we report the results of studies in which the ability of ShigaShield ™ to reduce Shigella levels was evaluated in various foods experimentally contaminated with a S .…”

Bacteriophage Applications for Food Production and Processing

“…Bacteriophage biocontrol could also be a means to disinfect surfaces used in the production and processing of foods [ 16 , 17 ]. In previous reviews [ 12 , 14 , 18 , 19 ], we and others have assembled a general overview of the industries and products where bacteriophages are used in food safety applications. Here, we provide an updated review (and an extended summary table) describing studies where bacteriophages have been applied to predominantly post-harvest foods, particularly meats, fresh produce and RTE foods ( Table 1 ).…”