Infant Formula Decontaminated With Bacteriophage Treatment

New findings published online in the Applied and Environmental Microbiology, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology, reveal that phage-viruses that infect only bacteria show strong anti-microbial activity against a type of food-borne bacterium that can infect infant formula.

The phage, known as "CR5," showed high antimicrobial activity against the bacterium Cronobacter sakazakii and several others species of Cronobacter, which can also cause dangerous illness, according to the researchers. 

During the study, researchers used infant formula that had been contaminated with C. sakazakii. They found that CR5 killed C. sakazakii very quickly and after 10 hours, this type of bacteria could no longer be detected in the formula.

Bacteriophages are abundant in the environment, meaning that they are ecologically friendly. "They infect and kill only bacteria, which means they could be used as novel biocontrol agents and even as natural food preservatives," said Sangryeol Ryu, professor in the Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Research Institute of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Korea. He further added that other food-borne pathogens could also be controlled, by other types of phages.

Cronobacter, the target bacterial genus of the phage, CR5, is a family of closely related species that cause illness in people of all ages. Though infection like this is rare in the United States, the bacteria can kill up to 40 percent of infected infants. Furthermore, those that survive can face long-term neurological problems, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Heretofore, C. sakazakii-contaminated infant formula has been considered an unsolved problem because antibiotics cannot be used," said Ryu, adding that C. sakazakii has been known to have multiple antibiotic resistance genes. "In this study, we proved that C. sakazakii-phage CR5 is an efficient biocontrol agent in infant formula. Therefore, this bacteriophage treatment is a promising approach to solve this problem."

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