Applicability of commercial phage-based products against Listeria monocytogenes for improvement of food safety in Spanish dry-cured ham and food contact surfaces. (March 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gutiérrez, Diana; Rodríguez-Rubio, Lorena; Fernández, Lucía; Martínez, Beatriz; Rodríguez, Ana; García, Pilar
• Is Part Of: Food control. Volume 73:Part B(2017)
• Page Start: 1474
• Page End: 1482
• Publication Date: 2017-03
• Subjects: Phage-based products -- Food safety -- Listeria monocytogenes -- Disinfectants -- Biopreservatives; Food -- Quality -- Periodicals; Food -- Analysis -- Periodicals; Food handling -- Periodicals; Food industry and trade -- Quality control -- Periodicals; Aliments -- Industrie et commerce -- Qualité -- Contrôle -- Périodiques; Aliments -- Qualité -- Périodiques; Aliments -- Analyse -- Périodiques; Hygiène alimentaire -- Périodiques; Food -- Analysis; Food handling; Food -- Quality; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 664.07
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodcont.2016.11.007
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0956-7135

Abstract

Abstract: The efficacy of bacteriophages as antimicrobials has fostered the approval and commercialization of several products intended to reduce the risk of food contamination by pathogenic bacteria. ListShield™ and Listex™ P100 are bacteriophage preparations that aim to combat Listeria monocytogenes in food industries. Here, we assessed the effectiveness of these phage-based products against L. monocytogenes strains from food origin. Both, removal of L. monocytogenes biofilms and inhibition of growth in Spanish dry-cured ham were evaluated for this bacterium. ListShield™ was effective in lysing 100% of L. monocytogenes strains examined, whereas Listex™ P100 lysed only 64% of the same strains. According to the manufacturers' recommendations, ListShield™ was used in a lower concentration than Listex™ P100 for the efficacy studies. Despite these differences, both products were effective in removing 72 h-old biofilms formed on stainless steel surfaces by most of the assayed strains after a 4 h treatment at 12 °C. For some strains, moreover, complete removal of adhered bacteria from 48 h-old biofilms formed on polystyrene surfaces was obtained after 4 h of treatment at 32 °C with Listex™ P100. Evaluation of phage-based products as biopreservatives in dry-cured ham showed that the application of Listex™ P100 resulted in a reduction of L. monocytogenes contamination below the detection limit (<10 CFU/cm 2 ) after 24 h at 4 °C and 12 °C. Treatment with ListShield™ showed similar results with the exception of samples with a high level of contamination (10 5 CFU/cm 2 ), in which a reduction of 3.5 log units was achieved after 14 days of incubation at 4 °C. In contrast, the antibacterial activity of ListShield™ decreased in samples stored at 12 °C, although a complete elimination of bacteria was observed after 8 days of treatment in low contaminated samples (10 3 CFU/cm 2 ). All these results suggest that phage-based products can be useful for biocontrol of L. monocytogenes in food contact surfaces and dry-cured ham. Highlights: ListShield™ and Listex™ P100 were effective to improve food safety. Phage disinfection success is dependent on the phage titer of each product. Effectiveness of phage-based products is reliant on the target strains sensitivity. Commercial phage-based products could prevent low contamination of dry-cured ham.