Don’t Shut the Stable Door after the Phage Has Bolted—The Importance of Bacteriophage Inactivation in Food Environments

Abstract

In recent years, a new potential measure against foodborne pathogenic bacteria was rediscovered—bacteriophages. However, despite all their advantages, in connection to their widespread application in the food industry, negative consequences such as an uncontrolled phage spread as well as a development of phage resistant bacteria can occur. These problems are mostly a result of long-term persistence of phages in the food production environment. As this topic has been neglected so far, this article reviews the current knowledge regarding the effectiveness of disinfectant strategies for phage inactivation and removal. For this purpose, the main commercial phage products, as well as their application fields are first discussed in terms of applicable inactivation strategies and legal regulations. Secondly, an overview of the effectiveness of disinfectants for bacteriophage inactivation in general and commercial phages in particular is given. Finally, this review outlines a possible strategy for users of commercial phage products in order to improve the effectiveness of phage inactivation and removal after application.