Salmonella contamination in human food can lead to the serious human disease of salmonellosis, if contaminated food is consumed. Both eggs and egg products have been often linked to the occurrence of Salmonella along with product recalls due to Salmonella contamination. Overall, Salmonella is present on the
external shells surface and internally. Many strategies have been established to decontaminate Salmonella, for increasing the safety of eggs and egg products; especially the use of bacteriophages (phages) as a biocontrol agent. In this study, three phages; namely: vB_SenS_WPX1, vB_SenS_WPX2, and vB_SenS_WPX3 were
tested for their lytic activity against eight major Salmonella serovars, which were recovered from poultry farms. Three phages showed robust lytic activity against five serovars tested; including, Corvalis, Kentucky, Saintpaul, Schwarzengrund, and Typhimurium. Phages vB_SenS_WPX1 and vB_SenS_WPX2 were effective against S.
Mbandaka; whereas, S. Agona and S. Albany were most susceptible to phage vB_SenS_WPX3. Three phages were further developed, as a phage cocktail, and showed an ability to reduce Salmonella count by 4 log colonyforming unit (CFU)/mL at 6 h post-phage treatment. The cocktail could immediately decrease the Salmonella
count adhered on eggshells by 3.8 log CFU/egg after 1 day of storage, and further prevent the penetration ability of Salmonella into egg yolks and the white albumen. The results suggest that a developed phage cocktail could be a potential, alternative strategy for decontaminating Salmonella on eggs, so as to increase the safety of the food