Intralytix, Inc., 8681 Robert Fulton Drive, Columbia, Maryland 21046, USA.
J Food Prot. 2020 Apr 1;83(4):668-676. doi: 10.4315/0362-028X.JFP-19-433.
Management of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC), including E. coli O157:H7, in food products is a major challenge for the food industry. Several interventions, such as irradiation, chemical disinfection, and pasteurization, have had variable success controlling STEC contamination. However, these interventions also indiscriminately kill beneficial bacteria in foods, may impact organoleptic properties of foods, and are not always environmentally friendly. Biocontrol using bacteriophage-based products to reduce or eliminate specific foodborne pathogens in food products has been gaining attention due to the specificity, safety, and environmentally friendly properties of lytic bacteriophages. We developed EcoShield PX, a cocktail of lytic bacteriophages, that specifically targets STEC. This study was conducted to examine the efficacy of this bacteriophage cocktail for reducing the levels of E. coli O157:H7 in eight food products: beef chuck roast, ground beef, chicken breast, cooked chicken, salmon, cheese, cantaloupe, and romaine lettuce. The food products were challenged with E. coli O157:H7 at ca. 3.0 log CFU/g and treated with the bacteriophage preparation at ca. 1 × 106, 5 × 106, or 1 × 107 PFU/g. Application of 5 × 106 and 1 × 107 PFU/g resulted in significant reductions (P < 0.05) in E. coli O157:H7 levels of up to 97% in all foods. When bacteriophages (ca. 1 × 106 PFU/g) were used to treat lower levels of E. coli O157:H7 (ca. 1 to 10 CFU/10 g) on beef chuck roast samples, mimicking the levels of STEC found under real-life conditions in food processing plants, the prevalence of STEC in the samples was significantly reduced (P < 0.05) by ≥80%. Our results suggest that this STEC-targeting bacteriophage preparation can result in significant reduction of both the levels and prevalence of STEC in various foods and, therefore, may help improve the safety and reduce the risk of recalls of foods at high risk for STEC contamination.
食品中志贺毒素产生大肠杆菌（STEC）的管理，包括大肠杆菌 O157：H7，是食品工业面临的主要挑战。辐照、化学消毒和巴氏消毒等几种干预措施在控制 STEC 污染方面取得了不同程度的成功。然而，这些干预措施也会不加区分地杀死食品中的有益细菌，可能会影响食品的感官特性，而且并不总是环保的。利用噬菌体为基础的产品进行生物防治，以减少或消除食品中特定的食源性致病菌，由于裂解噬菌体的特异性、安全性和环保特性，越来越受到关注。我们开发了 EcoShield PX，一种专门针对 STEC 的裂解噬菌体混合物。本研究旨在研究该噬菌体混合物降低八种食品中大肠杆菌 O157：H7 水平的效果：牛肉肩胛肉、碎牛肉、鸡胸肉、熟鸡肉、三文鱼、奶酪、哈密瓜和罗马生菜。食品在约 3.0 log CFU/g 的水平下受到大肠杆菌 O157：H7 的挑战，并以约 1×106、5×106 或 1×107 PFU/g 的剂量用噬菌体制剂处理。在所有食品中，5×106 和 1×107 PFU/g 的应用导致大肠杆菌 O157：H7 水平显著降低（P<0.05），最高达 97%。当噬菌体（约 1×106 PFU/g）用于处理牛肉肩胛肉样品中较低水平的大肠杆菌 O157：H7（约 1 至 10 CFU/10 g）时，模拟食品加工厂中实际条件下 STEC 的水平，样品中 STEC 的流行率显著降低（P<0.05），降幅≥80%。我们的结果表明，这种针对 STEC 的噬菌体制剂可显著降低各种食品中 STEC 的水平和流行率，因此有助于提高食品安全，降低 STEC 污染高风险食品召回的风险。
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