To reduce pathogens in produce, antimicrobials, such as chlorine and peracetic acid (PAA), are used. However, these chemicals may damage the natural microflora of fresh produce. A novel promising approach for targeting pathogenic bacteria in foods without impacting the normal food microbiota are bacteriophages. Research by Intralytix, Inc, published in the Journal of Food safety (January 2020, early view;https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/17454565) found that a combinational treatment of conventional antimicrobials treatment (PAA and chlorine) and bacteriophages, specifically the Salmonella‐targeted preparation SalmoFresh, maintained the bactericidal effectiveness of individual interventions, and in some cases, achieved substantially increased efficacy. An additional advantage of the bacteriophage was that the bacterial microbiomes of farm-fresh and organic produce were less affected after phage treatment compared to PAA and chlorine. Finally, our study revealed that resistance rates against SalmoFresh were relatively minor and unaffected by the stresses introduced after chemical washes and/or bacteriophage treatment.
