# 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
Because of the lack of lytic activity, temperate phages cannot be used for practical purposes because they are not suitable candidates to be used as phages in practical applications. Phase therapy proponents point out that phages have a variety of important benefits over antibiotics, including host-specificity, self-amplification, biofilm destruction and low toxicity to humans. The presence of several characteristics of bacterial viruses, in contrast with conventional chemical antibacterial agents, has come to be seen as an advantage in the years after the deployment of phages and has been viewed as advantageous in several circumstances. As bacteriophages exclusively detect and infect only a specific type of bacterial host, they do not interfere in any way with the microflora of the organism. The human body can cope better with these types of therapy than antimicrobials, which is what makes them a safer form of therapy [229; 238]. There has been some evidence that bacteriophage products can achieve their desired beneficial effect with one dose of the bacteriophage product [239; 240]. Despite the fact that many phages have the ability to multiply where they find their hosts, the key to this process is the \"auto-dosing\" characteristic, which is one of the unique features of phages [241]. Because they live within our body, bacteriophages are found in areas of the body such as our gastrointestinal tract or respiratory tract. It has been reported that the first viruses enter the intestines within four days after the birth of an infant [229]. The unintentional exposure to phages will allow us to confirm the safety of the intended phage application. A significant aspect of phage recruitment is the ease at which it can be done, and the fact that it is faster and cheaper than the acquisition of antimicrobials [242]. The phages used in food safety applications should be sufficiently sterile to avoid affecting the organoleptic, rheological, or nutritional characteristics of the food products [243]. Phage use is limited by other restrictions, such as their limited range of activity, which may prohibit the development of universal preparations or the emergence of phage-resistant strains. In addition, the use of phage cocktails, which are made up of phages with a wide range of specificities, can broaden the scope of lytic activities of a preparation, or phages with comparable activities, can be used to overcome both of these limitations [242; 244]. The preparation may contain phages that will be susceptible to bacteria even if they develop resistance to one phage from it, but they may still be susceptible to another [242; 244]. Taking into account other factors, such as virulence enhancement, antibiotic resistance genes activation, or phage coinfections, it is imperative to emphasize  
Figure 3: Replication process of bacteriophages (Lytic and Lysogenic cycles). that phage cocktail efficacy is complex, as there are many different factors that must be taken into account [245]. As a result of global concerns about consumer food safety, evaluating the techniques used by households to process food has been the subject of extensive research. In order to reduce the incidence of foodborne illness, consumers and food safety educators must be aware of activities that can prevent exposure to foodborne pathogens. The development and implementation of food safety education programs are necessary for the improvement of food safety behaviors [246]. A wide range of antibacterial tactics are being used today, all of which have their own drawbacks, which is why it is highly desirable to develop alternatives which are simple to use, do not affect product quality and are secure and inexpensive. Several studies have shown that bacteriophages have high efficacy against the most common pathogens of foodborne origin, and numerous scientists have expressed their keen interest in leveraging the advantages of bacterial viruses when it comes to control of these pathogens [62; 247; 248].