A new research has found a way to reduce Salmonella bacteria in meat products by deploying an old technology that uses natural bacteria predators, called bacteriophages.
The new technique has been developed by Assistant Professor Amilton de Mello, from the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources at the University of Nevada, Reno.
de Mello said: "We were able to reduce salmonella by as much as 90 percent in ground poultry, ground pork and ground beef.
"We're excited to be able to show such good results, food safety is an important part of our work and salmonella is one of the most prevalent bacteria in the nation's food supply."
Salmonella can cause diarrhea, fever, vomiting and abdominal cramps and it is one of the most common causes of food borne illnesses in the US.
By applying Myoviridae bacteriophages during mixing, De Mello's research treated meat products infected with four types of salmonella.
Bacteriophages, which are commonly found in our environment, are viruses that can only harm specific bacterial cells and are harmless to humans, animals and plants.
During the experiments, the salmonella bacteria was inoculated on refrigerated meat and poultry trim before the application of treatment to the meat. The process was carried out before grinding of meat.
The research found the bacteriophages invading the cells of the bacteria and destroying them.
de Mello said: "On the final ground meat products, there was a 10-fold decrease of salmonella.
"The results are very encouraging and we're hoping this can be adopted by the meat industry to increase food safety."
