Sushi restaurants have become quite popular in Europe, with an increase in the consumption of the sashimi speciality. Pathogenic bacteria such as Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, and Bacillus cereus have been reported in this kind of food. Controlling the presence and multiplication of L. monocytogenes is a challenge for food safety management systems owing to its ubiquitous presence and psychrotrophic growth. Bacteriophages have been used as pathogenic biocide agents for decades. The bacteriophage P100, present in LISTEX P100, was used in this study to understand the possibility of implementing a new critical control point for L. monocytogenes in sashimi preparation and sale. Different concentrations of LISTEX P100 were used for reduction of L. monocytogenes in inoculated samples at 3 and 22°C. The reduction in initial counts of 2 log CFU/g was effective in the first 24 h with the 8-log PFU/g inoculation. Promising results were obtained in assays with the 6-log CFU/g initial counts and the 8-log PFU/g inoculation, at 22°C, achieving a maximum reduction of 4.44 log CFU/g, compared with the control group. These results seem to confirm that bacteriophages can be an option in reducing the population of the L. monocytogenes pathogenic bacteria in sashimi, mainly in takeaway sales.
Keywords: Bacteriophages; Hazard analysis and critical control point; LISTEX P100; Listeria monocytogenes; Sashimi.