Abstract
The interest for natural antimicrobial compounds has increased due to alterations in consumer positions towards the use of chemical preservatives in foodstuff and food processing surfaces. Bacteriophages fit in the class of natural antimicrobial and their effectiveness in controlling bacterial pathogens in agro-food industry has led to the development of different phage products already approved by USFDA and USDA. The majority of these products are to be used in farm animals or animal products such as carcasses, meats and also in agricultural and horticultural products. Treatment with specific phages in the food industry can prevent the decay of products and the spread of bacterial diseases and ultimately promote safe environments in animal and plant food production, processing, and handling. This is an overview of recent work carried out with phages as tools to promote food safety, starting with a general introduction describing the prevalence of foodborne pathogens and bacteriophages and a more detailed discussion on the use of phage therapy to prevent and treat experimentally induced infections of animals against the most common foodborne pathogens, the use of phages as biocontrol agents in foods, and also their use as biosanitizers of food contact surfaces.
Highlights
Everyday people worldwide buy and consume a diversity of products of animal and plant origin expecting these products to be safe
Even when acceptable cleaning procedures are applied, bacteria are found in foods and food contact surfaces [4]
The inherent ability of pathogens to attach to living and inert surfaces, where they start living in microbial communities known as biofilms, and become highly tolerant to varied antimicrobial agents [5] contributes to the pathogen prevalence in foods and food contact surfaces
Summary
Everyday people worldwide buy and consume a diversity of products of animal and plant origin expecting these products to be safe. Millions of people become ill, are hospitalized, and die due to a variety of foodborne pathogens transmitted through foods. Annually in the USA alone, there are roughly 48 million illnesses, 128,000 hospitalizations, and even 3,000 deaths caused by foodborne pathogens [1]. Regardless of modern technologies, good manufacturing practices, quality control and hygiene, changes in animal husbandry, agronomic process, and in food or agricultural technology, food safety is continuously challenged by changes in lifestyle and consumer demands (e.g., ready-toeat products) and by the increase of international trade [2]. To meet the primary goal of any food safety program, the consumer protection, new food preservation techniques have to be continually developed to meet current demands, in order to control the emerging pathogens and their impact at global scale
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