Biotechnology firm Intralytix has received generally recognized as safe (GRAS) certification from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its food safety product, SalmoFresh.
SalmoFresh is an antimicrobial preparation for controlling the foodborne bacterial pathogen Salmonella enterica.
Active ingredients of SalmoFresh are naturally occurring lytic bacteriophages that particularly destroy Salmonella, including strains belonging to the most common / highly pathogenic serotypes - Typhimurium, Enteritidis, Heidelberg, Newport, Hadar, Kentucky, and Thompson.
Designed for treating foods that are at high risk for Salmonella contamination, SalmoFresh is all natural, kosher and halal, Intralytix stated.
Intralytix's chief scientist Alexander Sulakvelidze said that GRAS recognition will allow SalmoFresh to be put into immediate use by the food processing industry as a safe and effective approach for reducing the risk of foodborne salmonellosis.
"Salmonella continue to be one of the leading causes of foodborne disease worldwide, causing 1.2-1.4 million cases of salmonellosis annually in the USA alone," Sulakvelidze added.
Intralytix chief executive officer John Woloszyn said, "Phage-based antibacterials are a quickly emerging technology providing a safe, effective and all-natural way to protect food from pathogenic bacterial contamination."
Intralytix is involved in the development of bacteriophage or phage-based products for food safety. It already has two FDA/USDA approved phage-based products - ListShield, which is effective in reducing or eliminating Listeria monocytogenes in food; EcoShield, which is capable of reducing or eliminating E. coli O157:H7 in red meat intended for grinding.
