Abstract
Providing safe products and compliance of legal requirements is still a great challenge for food manufacturers regarding microbiological safety, especially in the context of Listeria monocytogenes food contamination. L. monocytogenes is a human pathogen, which, due to the ability of survival and proliferation in preservation conditions such as high salinity, acidity and refrigeration temperatures, is a significant threat to the food industry. Novel methods of elimination of the bacterial pathogen in food products and food processing environments are required. Among emerging technologies, one of the very promising solutions is using bacteriophages as natural control agents. This review focus on the major aspects of phage-based inhibition of L. monocytogenes in aspects of food safety. We describe an overview of foods and technological factors influencing the efficacy of phage use in biocontrol of L. monocytogenes. The most noteworthy are food matrix properties, phage concentration and stability, the time of phage application and product storage temperature. The combined methods, phage immobilization (active packing), pathogen resistance to phages and legislation aspects of antilisterial bacteriophage use in the food industry are also discussed.
Highlights
Listeria monocytogenes is rod-shaped Gram-positive, catalase positive, oxidase negative and facultative anaerobic bacteria [1,2]
That first attempt resulted in lack of significant decrease of the pathogen with phages only, other studies showed in the Table 1 provided consistent results that using a bacteriophage or mix of bacteriophages can lead to a significant reduction of L. monocytogenes with appropriate phage/Listeria ratio under certain conditions in most food products
Listeria monocytogenes is a pathogen with strict legal limitations in many countries, though outbreaks of listeriosis still occur on a regular basis
Summary
Listeria monocytogenes is rod-shaped Gram-positive, catalase positive, oxidase negative and facultative anaerobic bacteria [1,2] It is naturally present in the environment and is found in locations such as soil, water, sewage, silage, plants and animals [2,3]. Various contaminated food products, including vegetables, milk and dairy, red meat, poultry, seafood and diverse ready-to-eat (RTE) products, such as salads and smoked fish products were sources of listeriosis infections [2]. Bacteria in biofilm are partially protected from chemical cleaners and disinfectants [12,14], which make them especially difficult to remove from food processing environment, machines and equipment, in some cases leading to contamination of the final product [13]. One of the promising solutions is using bacteriophages as novel control agents [9,20]
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