Development of phage preparation for managing Salmonella in foods

Our project envisions developing a bacteriophage-based product, designated SalmoShield, for eliminating or significantly reducing contamination of poultry products (and eventually other foods) with Salmonella. Salmonellae continue to be one of the leading causes of foodborne disease worldwide, causing 1.3-1.4 million cases of salmonellosis annually in the USA, with associated costs estimated to be as high as $12.8 billion/year (in 1998 dollars). According to the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), ca. 75% of the annual cases of human salmonellosis are due to the consumption of contaminated poultry, beef, and egg product. In the absence of a definitive means of eradicating the bacteria, the USDA articulated the concept of Salmonella control through a "multiple hurdle" approach, which encourages implementation of procedures to reduce the risk of contamination during slaughter, while at the same time seeking to limit contamination of broiler flocks and the final food products. Under these circumstances, there is a clear need and market for products and approaches that can be used as part of an overall program of Salmonella control. Any such product should be effective, cheap, safe, environmentally-friendly, and easy to use - and there would also be potential advantages for products that target specific Salmonella serotypes; e.g., serotypes predominantly associated with human illness. Bacteriophage-based preparations may be one such modality. Indeed, lytic bacteriophages possess strong bactericidal activity against their specific bacterial hosts; thus, they have the potential to eliminate or significantly reduce the levels of their targeted bacteria in various food safety-relevant settings. The SalmoShield preparation, and the technology described in this proposal, have a potential to help significantly reduce Salmonella contamination of poultry, and, therefore, to have a significant impact on improving food safety/public health, and on reducing the cost of manufacturing and buying poultry products.