Control of food-borne pathogens growth using bacteriophage

Bacteriophages (also called ‘phage’) were first time isolated in early 1900’s. Until late 1930s, they were used to treat infectious diseases in different parts of the world. Improper use of phages and understandable formulations of phage particles reduced the use of phage therapy association with discovering the antibiotics. In recent years, antibiotic resistance is widespread in the world. Also, an increasing resistance to multiple antibiotics has been noted. Phage therapy has again taken into consideration due to the alarming spread of antibiotic resistance. The phage treatment is a new and effective hurdle to control food-borne pathogens including Listeria monocytogenes, Campylobacter jejuni, Escherichia coli O157: H7, Staphylococcus aureus, and Salmonella spp. Food-borne diseases are among the most serious and costly public health concerns worldwide. In despite of good manufacturing, quality control, and hygiene-safety concepts, foodborne illnesses still increased over the past decade. Among food preservation technologies such as physical treatments (heat, pressure, UV, and pulsed light) or chemical sanitizers, phage application has been gained particular interest. One advantage of the phages is that bacterial populations can be controlled selectively in the complex food systems. Phages can be very host specific and also are common in the environment and present in many foods. Phage treatments on food to control of pathogens are to extend shelf-life, to enhance hygienic quality, minimizing the impact on the nutritional and organoleptic properties of perishable food products as they are natural, non-toxic and specific to the bacterial species they infect. Many studies have described the phage biocontrol of these pathogens in a range of foods. This review is a summary of the phage-based strategies for control of food-borne pathogens.