Biocontrol of Shiga Toxigenic Escherichia coli O157:H7 in Turkish Raw Meatball by Bacteriophage

Abstract With an E scherichia coli O157:H7 virulent bacteriophage, M8AEC16 , biocontrol efficiency of phages on a highly risky, ready‐to‐eat, traditional delicacy food called “raw meatball” under different storage conditions was investigated. Phage, belonging to the M yoviridae family, was isolated from the wastewater of a local slaughterhouse and showed a broad lytic activity toward many E . coli O157:H7 strains with high efficiency of plating and O157 specificity. Our experimental study provided favorable results, with 0.69–2.09 log colony‐forming unit (cfu)/g E . coli O157:H7 reductions in the first 5 h of the replica trials. Major reductions of viable E . coli O157:H7 counts were observed in the beginning of the storage period, reaching up to 1.85 log cfu/g. Although a significant reduction in E . coli O157:H7 was observed with increased phage concentration, storage conditions had minor effect on efficiency of phage biocontrol. This is the first study in T urkey that investigates applicability of phage biocontrol for a traditional food model. Practical Applications Phage addition in preparation stage of a very complex food model, ready‐to‐eat T urkish raw meatball, is a promising application in decontamination of E scherichia coli O157:H7. Although investigation of its genomic characteristics along with its stability to different food matrices must be completed for further use of the model phage M8AEC16 , findings of this work were encouraging, as phages are valuable in biocontrol of important foodborne in this ready‐to‐eat T urkish delicacy.