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Updated: Dec 11, 2025

Bacteriophage Effectiveness for Biocontrol of Foodborne Pathogens Evaluated via High-Throughput Settings
Published on: August 19, 2021
Bacteriophage biocontrol to fight Listeria outbreaks in seafood
Amaia Lasagabaster1, Elisa Jiménez1, Tatiana Lehnherr2
1AZTI, Food Research, Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Parque Tecnológico de Bizkaia, Astondo bidea, Edificio 609, 48160, Derio, Bizkaia, Spain.
Abstract:
Listeria monocytogenes is a well-known pathogen responsible for the severe foodborne disease listeriosis. The control of L. monocytogenes occurrence in seafood products and seafood processing environments is an important challenge for the seafood industry and the public health sector. However, bacteriophage biocontrol shows great potential to be used as safety control measure in seafood. This review provides an update on Listeria-specific bacteriophages, focusing on their application as a safe and natural strategy to prevent L. monocytogenes contamination and growth in seafood products and seafood processing environments. Furthermore, the main properties required from bacteriophages intended to be used as biocontrol tools are summarized and emerging strategies to overcome the current limitations are considered. Also, major aspects relevant for bacteriophage production at industrial scale, their access to the market, as well as the current regulatory status of bacteriophage-based solutions for Listeria biocontrol are discussed.
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