Food Safety Interventions: Antimicrobials for clean labels

The increasing resistance for complicated, unrecognizable chemicals and preservatives against Foodborne Pathogens, Mold and Spoilage.

Butylated Hydroxytoluene (BHT), Butylated Hydroxyanisole (BHA) are well-known chemical interventions for the Food Industry. They’ve been around for a long time and are still in use today as preservatives. However, the increased demand of consumers for organic and clean-label products, ask for new solutions for the remediation and prevention of undesired pathogens or bacteria, such as Listeria and Salmonella.

The priority will always be set at safe food that's free of harmful bacteria. Besides, the consumer market prefers the convience of long shelf life products. However, some of the chemicals used today as antimicrobials and preservatives are seen as negative additions, that raise questions to a increasingly aware consumer market. Consumers seem to prefer clean labels with preservatives and antimicrobials that they can recognize or understand: like vinegar, rosemary or interventions derived from organic or natural substances.

This makes it more complicated for the Food Industry to produce a product with a label that will appeal to consumers. Fortunately, some treatments have proven safe enough that they don’t have to be listed on the label and new innovations for clean-label alternatives become available for primarily antimicrobial usage and also for extending shelf life.

Bacteriophages for Clean-Label Processing

The Phage-based solution Phageguard L (PGL) for the Food Inudstry such as RTE Meat and Poultry against Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) is one of these alternatives for Clean-Label processing. The solution is reported to be effective against 170 strains of Lm, making it a commerically suited solution for the remediation of these foodborne pathogens.

Phageguard its solutions have been approved for clean-label processing in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Israel. In the US, FDA has granted GRAS for bacteriophages. Bacteriophages are able to specifically target , and when finished, the host bacteria are depleted in the food. While bacteriophages have no other effect on food—they don’t change the flavor, texture or color—because of their specificity, they do not eliminate typical food spoilage bacteria.

Bacteriophages

In August 2006, FDA approved the use of a bacteriophage preparation made from six individually approved phages as an additive on RTE meat and poultry products as an antimicrobial agent against Listeria monocytogenes (Lm). The approved phage preparation is reported to be effective against 170 strains of Lm. The 2006 document notes that use of this product comes under the Federal Meat Inspection Act or the Poultry Products Inspection Act, both administered by USDA. Labeling instructions are provided within this document, however, when phage preparations are applied to slaughtering/processing of raw carcasses, in most cases, there are no labeling requirements.

Most bacteriophage preparations have been approved for clean-label processing in the USA, EU, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland and Israel, according to our website. In the USA, FDA has granted GRAS for bacteriophages. Bacteriophages lyse and consume their host bacteria, and when finished, the host bacteria are depleted in the food. While bacteriophages have no other effect on food—they don’t change the flavor, texture or color—because of their specificity, they do not eliminate typical food spoilage bacteria.

Proven effectiveness

A medium-sized smoked salmon producer on the East Coast had this to say about using a Listeria-specific bacteriophage:

“We had a recall a few years back, and it cost us in excess of well over $100,000. The FDA came in, consultants came in, we lost business. We met Phageguard at a seafood show shortly after, they came over (from Holland), and we started using Phageguard L. That was almost 10 years ago.

The problem with cold smoked salmon is that it is naturally contaminated and cannot receive a lethality treatment, such as heat, without inadvertently altering the typical characteristics of the product. Phageguard L only targets Listeria, leaving everything else the way it is supposed to be. It’s the only product I have come across that does this for us. I sleep better knowing that I am controlling Listeria and not flying blind.”

Bacteriophages, in many cases, are certified organic, such as Phageguard L (PGL). They also may be certified halal and kosher, but that should be verified with the individual supplier.