Microencapsulated bacteriophage cocktail for the targeted inhibition of Salmonella enterica in broiler chickens - Market Assessment Application

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Chickens are by far the most farmed animal in Canada with ~$2.8 billion generated by Canadian chicken producers, and 500 million chicken products exported to 50 other countries annually. On the other hand, chicken is also the #1 food associated with foodborne salmonellosis, especially in recent years with growing antibiotic resistance. This has resulted in stakeholders searching for antibiotic alternatives, leaving them with limited options to tackle these pathogens. Environmentally, it is difficult to eliminate Salmonella because it is found almost everywhere throughout the poultry production chain. Even though many food safety measures are already in place, about one quarter of the chickens on the Canadian market are still found to test positive for Salmonella. We have created an effective bacteriophage treatment that can be fed to chickens on-farm to target and eliminate the Salmonella living in their digestive systems. A bacteriophage (phage) is a naturally occurring microorganism that invades and reproduces within bacteria, ultimately leading to bacterial death. Phages cannot interact with animal cells, and they are very specific to a single type of bacteria. This means that our Salmonella phages can only recognize and kill Salmonella. Phages also have a lot to offer in the food industry because they are safe to eat, they are classified as organic and clean label, they are cost competitive, and they don't affect the nutrition, quality, or sensory characteristics of food. Our innovation will have a large impact in the poultry industry because it will be the first time that we can directly reduce the burden of Salmonella in chickens leaving the farm without the use of medically important antibiotics. We predict that our treatment will cause a 90% or larger reduction in Salmonella, which will lead to a meaningful decrease on chicken products at retail.