Use of virulent bacteriophages to control Salmonella on raw pork materials employed in the production of dry fermented sausages

Salmonella is a major cause of foodborne illness, with about 66 000 laboratory-confirmed cases of salmonellosis reported in Europe in 2022. Pigs are regarded as a significant reservoir of this pathogen, andraw or under cooked pork and processed pork products are commonly implicated in human infections. Dryfermented sausage is a ready-to-eat food product mostly made of pork, which is among one of the main meat-based traditional fermented foods produced and consumed in Europe and worldwide. Raw porkmaterials used in the production of dry fermented sausages can be contaminated with Salmonella following carcass contamination linked to inappropriate slaughtering or handling practices. Among the differentde contamination strategies, virulent bacteriophages constitute a promising option to control pathogenic bacteria such as Salmonella during food processing.

This study aimed to evaluate the sensitivity of a large panel of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica isolates (n = 50) collected from the French pork industry to an anti-Salmonella commercial phage product, then to challenge its lytic activity on raw pork materials (lean meat and back fat) as well as ground meat (80% meat / 20% fat), spiked with a cocktail of phage-sensitive Salmonella strains.