Intralytix

Intralytix has created a spray with bacteriophages to be applied to food for the prevention of Listeriosis by killing strains of food-borne pathogenic L. monocytogenes bacterium. [http://www.livescience.com/othernews/ap_060821_virus_food.html] [http://www.upi.com/ConsumerHealthDaily/view.php?StoryID=20060830-053121-2853r]

Listeriosis is a serious disease with a high rate of mortality in susceptible individuals. It is almost exclusively contracted by consuming contaminated food. Since the bacteria are ubiquitous in nature, even the most thorough hygiene concepts fail to guarantee that food products are free of Listeria.

Bacteriophages are among the best studied organisms in the natural world. This is because their molecular biology is relatively simple. Many molecular principles were first studied in bacteriophages prior to being found in higher organisms. Bacteriophages are ubiquitous. High numbers can be found in seawater and also in fermented foods such as yogurt or cheese. Bacteriophages are extremely specific in the bacteria they recognize. The recognition is often limited to specific strains of one species, in rare cases several strains of the same species or genus are recognized. With this fact in mind their potential in fighting unwanted bacteria has recently received increased attention.

The FDA-approved a cocktail containing 6 Listeria-specific phages that work on deli meats and other ready-to-eat foods in August, 2006.

Intralytix Corporation, based in Baltimore, first petitioned the FDA in 2002 to allow the viruses to be used as an additive. It has since licensed the product to a multinational company, which has not yet decided whether to market the spray.The phages are grown on Listerial cells. The FDA-approved cocktail contains six different viruses intended to attack various strains of the bacterial species L. monocytogenes.

This mixture is then sprayed on food. If Listeria is present in the food, they will be infected by the bacteriophages. This results in replication inside the bacteria, ultimately ending in the bacteria being killed.

Some doctors (Dr. Mercola, in particular) point out the danger in overuse of viral material to treat a bacterium that will thrive in garbage dumps where leftover meat is dumped.Fact|date=April 2007