# An Overview of the Public Health Challenges in Diagnosing and Controlling Human Foodborne Pathogens
## 6 Control of Foodborne Microbial Pathogens  
### The Role of Bacteriophages in Combating Foodborne Pathogens  
A bacteriophage, or phage as it is sometimes called, is a virus that attacks and multiplies only in bacteria and is linked to bacterial infections [228; 229]. Among the many industrial applications of phages, phage therapy is one of the most promising ways for them to fight bacterial diseases as a result of their unique characteristics that show they can be effective in combating bacterial diseases [58; 230]. With the aim of ensuring the safety of consumers, every antibacterial treatment used in the food production industry must be carefully chosen because each treatment used should aim to ensure the health of consumers. In contrast to commonly used antibacterial methods, phage treatment does not affect the quality of the product in any way, and viruses may be applied to a different range of matrices, which provides a much simpler approach than the use of chemical antimicrobials in order to overcome resistance problems [66; 67; 68]. Several phages have been identified in a range of foods, which indicates that this is one of the ways they can naturally get into the bodies of humans [69; 231]. Because phage-based approaches include all of the advantages of traditional antibacterial techniques, such as affordability and ease of use, there is no reason not to use them in the future. According to several research studies [70; 71; 232], phages may be an effective means for eradicating foodborne pathogens that cause food poisoning. This study discusses the most recent discoveries about phages in relation to food-related pathogens. Since phage research has seen a dramatic increase in the last few years, we present a summary of the findings of this study. We also discuss the different ways in which these viruses can be utilized to manage food production in biologically efficient ways. As a matter of fact, we believe that protecting food items from contamination is one of the greatest challenges facing the world, and that it is urgent for us to address this challenge by searching for new solutions that allow for the maintenance of high criteria for food security. There is no doubt that maintaining the protection of food items is one of the major challenges we face on a global scale, and we must look for novel solutions that will be able to maintain the requirements for food safety that are as high as possible. Compared to other types of microorganisms, bacteriophages have a high degree of selectivity when it comes to which species or strains of bacteria they are able to infect [233; 234]. As a result of their selective interactions at the surface of the bacterial cell, the viral receptor and its ligand are able to achieve this high degree of specificity. As an entry point for bacterial cells, phages may utilize proteins that make up the outer membrane, pili, flagella, polysaccharides, lipopolysaccharide and amino acid moieties to let them in. There are two main cycles in the replication process of bacteriophages (Figure 3). When the phage's genetic material enters the proper host, it is duplicated and copied using the bacterial molecular machinery in the process of lytic cycling, which occurs during the initial stages of the phage's lifespan. Soon after the phage penetrates into the cells of a host organism, new virions are generated and released into the environment. Due to this chain of events of molecular occurrences that have been linked together, the bacterial cell lyses [235]. Lytic phages are phages that are capable of multiplying through the lytic cycle, and are therefore called virulent phages [236]. This virus replicates with its host as a prophage through the lysogenic cycle, an important part of which is the combination of the nucleic acid of the virus with the chromosome of the host. A change in the environment, which can be unfavorable to the phage, could nevertheless cause it to switch to the lytic cycle [237].