An environmental virus defeats salmonella and enhances food safety.
Chinese researchers have said that antibiotic-resistant foodborne salmonella bacteria can be disabled using a virus that occurs naturally in the environment.
Huitian Gu, from the College of Veterinary Medicine at Gansu Agricultural University in Lanzhou, who led the study team, said in a statement that the bacteriophage known as “W5 phage” acts “like a precision-guided missile , capable of eliminating harmful Salmonella found on various foods and packaging materials, showing great potential as a new guardian of food safety.”
According to estimates from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Salmonella causes 1.35 million illnesses, 26,500 hospitalizations, and 420 deaths in the United States alone each year.
A report published in the journal “Applied and Environmental Microbiology” stated that the bacterial virus “W5” reduced salmonella levels in laboratory tests and disrupted the biofilms that form as a result of its presence on milk, meat, eggs, and food contact surfaces, under storage conditions that mimic reality.
The researchers said that the virus, as a natural biological entity, provides an “environmentally friendly” solution for eliminating pollution, and leaves no harmful chemical residues on food or in the environment.
The researchers added that their findings open a new avenue for using bacteriophages to reduce antibiotic resistance and enhance food safety.
Guo stated that researchers are exploring several potential options for eliminating contamination using the W5 bacteriophage along the food supply chain, including, for example, adding it to livestock feed, using it as a surface disinfectant in meat processing plants, or even as a spray to preserve fresh produce.
References
An environmental virus defeats salmonella and enhances food safety., skynewsarabia, www.skynewsarabia.com/technology/1860996-فيروس-بيئي-يهزم-السالمونيلا-ويعزز-سلامة-الغذاء