Bacteriophage treatment for reducing and preventing bacterial contamination

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9486007-B2
Application number	US-5480608-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 25, 2008
Priority date	Mar 25, 2008
Publication date	Nov 8, 2016
Grant date	Nov 8, 2016

Abstract

A system and method for reducing or preventing bacterial contamination in food includes application of a bacteriophage treatment to any type of food product at any stage of processing the food product. The bacteriophage treatment may also be applied to non-food surfaces and water systems, which may be susceptible to bacterial contamination and subsequent spread of bacteria. The bacteriophage treatment comprises at least one bacteriophage in a concentration sufficient to reduce or prevent bacterial contamination from pathogenic bacteria and/or spoilage bacteria. In some embodiments, the bacteriophage is able to reduce or eliminate bacteria introduced to a food product after the bacteriophage treatment was applied to the food product. In some embodiments, the bacteriophage treatment includes a buffering agent to maintain the bacteriophage at a pH level that sustains the bacteriophage. In some embodiments, the bacteriophage treatment includes a surfactant and/or a thickener to aid in applying the bacteriophage. Additional adjuvants and enhancers may be used in some embodiments to stabilize the bacteriophage or enhance its performance as an antibacterial agent.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of treating and preventing bacterial contamination in a raw meat product, the method comprising:
applying a bacteriophage treatment to the raw meat product as a foam, the bacteriophage treatment comprising:
at least one bacteriophage in a concentration sufficient to reduce or eliminate bacteria selected from the group consisting of pathogenic bacteria, spoilage bacteria, and combinations thereof;
a buffering agent to maintain the bacteriophage treatment at a pH between approximately 4 and 9;
from about 25 ppm to about 2.0 weight percent of a foaming surfactant selected from the group consisting of alcohol ethoxylates, alcohol ethoxylate carboxylate, amine oxides, alkyl sulfates, alkyl ether sulfate, sulfonates, quaternary ammonium compounds, alkyl sarcosines, betaines, alkyl amides and mixtures thereof; and
an adjuvant comprising one or more of calcium, magnesium, a competitive exclusion bacteria, a fatty acid, a terpene, a terpenoid, glycerol, and propylene glycol.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the raw meat product is a carcass.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the raw meat product includes poultry, beef, pork, veal, buffalo, lamb, fish and seafood.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the concentration of the at least one bacteriophage is from about 10 5 to about 10 11 Plaque Forming Units (PFU)/mL.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the bacteriophage treatment comprises about 0.1-1.5 wt-% thickener.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
providing a packaging material;
applying the bacteriophage treatment to the packaging material; and
packaging the food product in the packaging material.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising providing the packaging material with a protectant system including at least one of a barrier film, a UV light blocking film, a buffering agent, a salt having a divalent cation, salts of gluconic acid, and a modified atmosphere.

8. The method of claim 6 further comprising providing the packaging material with a deactivating component capable of inactivating the bacteriophage at a predetermined time after packaging of the food product in the packaging material.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the deactivating component is selected from non-pathogenic bacteria capable of degrading the bacteriophage, controlled release enzymes, controlled chlorine releasing agents, encapsulated enzymes or organic acids that are released upon hydration, oxychloro species releasing agents, peroxyacids, and combinations thereof.

10. The method of claim 6 , wherein the packaging material comprises a bag, a pouch, a film, a tray, a bowl, a clam shell, web packaging, or hot dog packaging.

11. The method of claim 6 , wherein the bacteriophage treatment is applied to the packaging material by spraying.

12. The method of claim 1 further comprising providing a packaging material comprising a bacteriophage composition and packaging the food product in the packaging material, wherein the bacteriophage is subsequently released to treat or prevent bacterial contamination.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the packaging material comprises packaging film and the bacteriophage composition is a suspended in the packaging film.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the packaging material comprises a moisture adsorbent pad and wherein the bacteriophage composition is provided as a dried bacteriophage preparation in the moisture adsorbent pad.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the food product is ready-to-eat meat comprising water, and wherein after packaging the food product in the packaging material, the water from the food product releases a bacteriophage from the dried bacteriophage preparation.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the bacteriophage treatment has a storage stability of up to seven days without bacterial contamination present.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the adjuvant is selected from calcium, magnesium, a competitive exclusion bacteria, a fatty acid, a terpene, and a terpenoid.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein applying the foam is effective to reduce bacterial contamination for seven days after applying regardless of whether the raw meat product was contaminated before or after applying.

19. A method of treating and preventing bacterial contamination in a raw meat product, the method comprising:
applying a bacteriophage treatment to the raw meat product as a foam, the bacteriophage treatment comprising:
at least one bacteriophage in a concentration sufficient to reduce or eliminate bacteria selected from the group consisting of pathogenic bacteria, spoilage bacteria, and combinations thereof;
a buffering agent to maintain the bacteriophage treatment at a pH between approximately 4 and 9; and
from about 25 ppm to about 2.0 weight percent of a foaming surfactant selected from the group consisting of alcohol ethoxylates, alcohol ethoxylate carboxylate, amine oxides, alkyl sulfates, alkyl ether sulfate, sulfonates, quaternary ammonium compounds, alkyl sarcosines, betaines, alkyl amides and mixtures thereof, and an adjuvant comprising one or more of calcium, magnesium, a competitive exclusion bacteria, a fatty acid, a terpene, a terpenoid, glycerol and propylene glycol,

wherein the bacteriophage treatment is stable for seven days after application to raw meat when no bacterial contamination is present at the time of application.

20. A method of treating or preventing bacterial contamination in a raw meat product, the method comprising:
applying a bacteriophage treatment to a raw meat product, wherein the bacteriophage treatment comprises:
at least one bacteriophage in a concentration sufficient to reduce or eliminate bacteria selected from the group consisting of pathogenic bacteria, spoilage bacteria, and combinations thereof;
a buffering agent to maintain the bacteriophage treatment at a pH between approximately 4 and 9; and
from about 25 ppm to about 2.0 weight percent of a foaming surfactant selected from the group consisting of alcohol ethoxylates, alcohol ethoxylate carboxylates, amine oxides, alkyl sulfates, alkyl ether sulfates, sulfonates, quaternary ammonium compounds, alkyl sarcosines, betaines, alkyl amides and mixtures thereof, and an adjuvant comprising one or more of calcium, magnesium, a competitive exclusion bacteria, a fatty acid, a terpene, a terpenoid, glycerol and propylene glycol,

wherein the method is able to treat or prevent bacterial growth when applying the bacteriophage treatment occurs up to seven days prior to bacterial contamination.

21. The method of claim 20 , wherein the raw meat product has not been contaminated with pathogenic bacteria or spoilage bacteria before applying the bacteriophage treatment.

22. The method of claim 20 , wherein the bacteriophage is stable for up to 14 days after the step of applying the bacteriophage treatment.

23. The method of claim 20 , wherein the bacteriophage is stable for up to 14 days after the step of applying the bacteriophage treatment, when the bacteriophage is applied to a non-contaminated raw meat product.

24. The method of claim 20 , wherein the concentration of the at least one bacteriophage is from about 10 5 to about 10 11 Plaque Forming Units (PFU)/mL.

25. The method of claim 20 , wherein the bacteriophage treatment comprises about 0.1-1.5 wt-% thickener.

26. The method of claim 20 , wherein the bacteriophage treatment is applied

Assignees

• Burnett Scott L
• Gutzmann Timothy A
• Cords Bruce R
• Ecolab Usa Inc

Inventors

• Burnett Scott L
• Gutzmann Timothy A
• Cords Bruce R

Classifications

• A23B2/783

  Microorganisms; Enzymes · CPC title

• A23B2/729 Primary

  Organic compounds; Microorganisms; Enzymes · CPC title

• A23L3/3463

  Human Necessities · mapped topic

• A23L3/3571 Primary

  Human Necessities · mapped topic

• B65B25/001

  of foodstuffs, combined with their conservation (B65B25/041, B65B25/062, B65B25/067 take precedence) · CPC title