Clears Listeria problem in fish processing

Natural bacteriophages - Greek for bacteria-eaters - prove an ideal solution for the biocontrol of Listeria monocytogenes (LM), the most dangerous food pathogen, causing increasing problems in fish products. Annual medical costs and productivity losses from the acute illness from food borne Listeria in the US are estimated to be one, two and three times the costs caused by Salmonella, Campylobacter and E-coli. Listeria is particularly renowned for its capacity to grow and reproduce even at low temperatures, at high salt- and low pH-conditions, and for its tendency to occupy niches in the infrastructure of food processing companies. The pathogen is invisible to the human eye, and cannot be detected by taste. Unpolluted water environments such as rivers and coastal sea waters have been found to carry LM at up to 90% of samples taken. The presence of LM in fish products has been studied in literally hundreds of scientific reports. Despite rigorous HACCP programs, slaughtered fish entering the processing facilities are a continuous source of LM-contamination. Dr. Steven Hagens, Chief Scientific Officer of EBI Food Safety, researched the efficacy of the application of LISTEX(tm)P100 bacteriophages on fish fillets that were artificially contaminated with LM: "following excellent results on cheese (published in European Dairy Magazine) and during meat production (published in Fleishwirtschaft International), we are pleased to see that the use of LISTEX(tm) P100 also decimates LM in fish production facilities". EBI Food Safety is a Dutch privately held Life Sciences company focused on the development and commercialization of natural anti-bacterial products, based on its bacteriophage technology. The company's scientific network includes collaborations with universities and research centres around the world, i.e. in The Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Spain, Norway, Italy, Scotland, Canada and the United States. The company is viewed as product leader in the field of applied bacteriophage technology for food products and was honoured with the 2006 Technology Innovation Award by Frost & Sullivan.