After salmonella in the infant milk, here is the listeria in the sliced ham… What if we could prevent the contamination of these foods by bacteria? A research team from the University of Helsinki, Finland, tried to find a solution to this question. They focused their research on bacteria-eating viruses, called bacteriophages. The results of their study appeared in theInternational Journal of Food Microbiology.
The bacteriophage, a precision weapon
The advantage of using bacteriophages is that they only infect a handful of species or bacterial strains, “which makes them real precision weapons in the prevention of bacterial diseases”, we can read in the press release from the university. Researchers focused on the bacteria Yersinia enterocolitica, which causes yersiniosis, a disease usually transmitted by raw or undercooked pork, or more rarely by milk. Humans can also be infected by cooking utensils that have been used to handle contaminated food. Yersiniosis causes fever, severe abdominal pain, and diarrhea. These symptoms can persist for up to three weeks.
They inhibit the growth of bacteria
The researchers first identified four bacteriophages that could infect the Yersinia bacteria. The scientists then kept the most efficient for the rest of the experiments. They inoculated the bacteria into raw, cooked pork and milk. The contaminated food was then subjected to the bacteriophage and the Yersinia count was monitored for 3 days. They did the same on kitchen utensils such as cutting boards, knives, and gloves. The number of bacteria was, here, followed for 2 hours.
Results, treatment with a virus-eating virus Yersinia enterocolitica has been effective in inhibiting bacterial growth in food and on utensils. The authors of the study believe that this work could serve as a model for the prevention of further food infections more serious.
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