The emergence of more and more broad-spectrum drug-resistant bacteria has brought serious economic problems to food safety, and the spread of various pathogenic microorganisms has made phages gradually replace antibiotics as more potential pathogen control agents in food safety. To further ensure food safety and reduce the risk of food poisoning, Creative Biolabs is your best partner in phage therapy development in food safety.
The extensive use of antibiotics has exacerbated the resistance of pathogenic bacteria in livestock, poultry, and agricultural products, the bacterial infections and adverse effects caused by food-borne pathogens have threatened human health and become a global burden. Phages, the most abundant biological agents on earth and natural enemies of bacteria, have been widely used to lyse multidrug-resistant bacteria and reduce the adverse effects of chemicals on food.
The application of phage in the field of food safety is mainly in three parts, primary production, biological preservation, and biological harmlessness, which ensures that food-borne pathogens don't enter the human body through food and are contaminated by pathogenic bacteria in production, processing, circulation, consumption and other links. Another great advantage of using bacteriophage is that it hardly affects the taste and nutritional value of the food.
Escherichia coli can be found in contaminated vegetables, beef, fruit, or other animal products. E. coli infection can lead to gastrointestinal inflammation, urinary tract infections, arthritis, meningitis, and bacteremia. More virulent phages that infect E. coli are being characterized. Phages currently applied to E. coli include vB_EcoM-ep3, vB_EcoM_Sa157lw, etc.
Fig. 1 Gene pairing comparison of several E. coli phages. (Olsen, 2020)
Salmonella is a common food-borne pathogen, and in fact, food poisoning caused by Salmonella often tops the list of bacterial food poisoning incidents in countries around the world. Almost all Salmonella strains are pathogenic and are widely distributed in eggs, meat, dairy products, fruits, and vegetables. Phages exhibiting good Salmonella killing ability and population control ability include vB_SenM-PA13076 (PA13076), vB_SenM-PC2184 (PC2184), etc.
Fig. 2 Genomic comparisons of Salmonella phages. (Switt, 2013)
Campylobacter is a gram-negative bacterium that causes acute diarrhea and is widely found in a variety of meat products, especially raw undercooked chicken or seafood and its packaging. Dozens of phages parasitic Campylobacter have been isolated and validated.
Fig. 3 Electron micrograph of Campylobacter phage. (Hansen, 2007)
Listeria monocytogenes, the main causative agent of Listeria disease, can persist and grow at refrigerated temperatures for long periods of time, making it more susceptible to infecting dairy, meat, seafood, and vegetables. There are a number of validated Listeria lytic phages, including vB_LmoS_188, vB_LmoS_293, etc.
Fig. 4 Host range analysis of Listeria phage to different strains of Listeria monocytogenes. (Song, 2021)
The FDA has granted GRAS approval for phage therapy products, which allows them to be used in livestock products or other foods. More than a dozen products have been approved by the FDA or similar agencies, and many more phages are in the validation process. These products include common foodborne pathogens such as Salmonella, Shigella and cover all key steps of food from processing to sales.
| Target Bacteria | Application |
|---|---|
| E. coli | Elimination of E. coli O157:H7 infection in beef, turkey, and their processed products. |
| Salmonella | Food additives and antibacterial additives for poultry, fish, shellfish, fruits, vegetables, and meat. |
| L. monocytogenes | Food additives and antibacterial additives for poultry, fish, shellfish, fruits, vegetables, and meat. |
| Campylobacter | Raw red meat food additives. |
| Shigella | Eradication and control of Shigella in meat and vegetables. |
Some other pathogenic bacteria that may be present in food and targeted phage therapy have been listed on other pages:
To help address the enormous threat to agriculture and livestock from a variety of pathogens, Creative Biolabs offers novel and reliable phage therapy in food safety-related development services with powerful assistance for your research project. Please do not hesitate to contact us for more information.
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