Protecting families from contaminated food and water
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Protecting families from contaminated food and water
Posted in Listeria,Our Blog,Outbreaks & Recalls on July 17, 2026
[Announcer voice] In this corner, we have Bacillus subtilis MB40. Weighing in at… Well. It’s microscopic. So not a lot. [Crowd cheers] And in this corner we have Listeria monocyctogenes [Boos and jeers] also, microscopic.
Sounds like the start of a hyped-up wrestling match or reality tv show. But in fact, it is just the basis for a research study that might just help reduce the incidence of foodborne illness.
The scope of the study is simple. “Foodborne illness is one of the most prevalent GI [gastrointestinal] disorders across the globe.” According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) around 48 million cases, 128,000 hospitalizations, and 3000 deaths are linked to foodborne illness in the United States each year.
While largely preventable, illnesses from the common foodborne pathogens such as Salmonella, Clostridium perfringens, Campylobacter, E. coli, and Listeria cause significant risk to both normally healthy at-risk individuals. Illness ranges from typical diarrheal illness to more invasive or systemic infection, sepsis, encephalitis, meningitis, organ failures, and even death.
This study focused specifically on Listeria monocytogenes; a rod shaped ,gram-positive, motile bacterium often referred to as Listeria that is responsible for the illness known as listeriosis.
There are around 1,600 cases of listeriosis in the United States each year, accounting for 260 deaths and the highest rate of hospitalization among not only the big 5 bad bugs, but among the 31 known foodborne pathogens.
Common listeriosis symptoms are limited to the digestive system. The “intestinal illness” level of listeriosis is rarely diagnosed because most patients recover without medical attention, and laboratories do not regularly test for Listeria in stool samples unless specifically requested.
Intestinal illness symptoms often involve vomiting and diarrhea that begins around 24 hours after eating a contaminated food and generally resolves within 1 to 3 days.
Listeriosis becomes serious when it moves from intestinal illness to invasive illness. Listeriosis becomes classified as “invasive illness” when it leaves the digestive system and begins to affect other parts of the body.
For some reason, people who are pregnant experience different symptoms when it comes to invasive illness. Those who are pregnant often experience milder symptoms, but the fetus is at risk. Miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery, and life-threatening infection of the newborn may occur. For those who are not pregnant, invasive listeriosis has a pretty high mortality rate. “Almost 1 in 20 non-pregnant people with invasive listeriosis die.”
Invasive illness in those who are not pregnant include:
Invasive illness in those who are pregnant include:
Invasive listeriosis illness usually begins around 2 weeks after consuming a contaminated food.
Certain groups of people are at higher risk for infection and often experience more severe complications. Adults over 65 years, those with a weakened immune system, people who are pregnant, and their newborns are in this category.
The American Gastroenterology Association promotes the use of probiotics for many specific benefits and has done their own research to prove it.
Existing guidance for use of probiotics already exists for:
Probiotics are already known for benefits and used to prevent other issues. But can it help with foodborne illness?
This is exactly what researchers wanted to know.
Scientists from Virginia wanted to test the effects of preventatively using probiotics against foodborne illness.
The test subjects?
Piglets.
Pigs were chosen, likely for a variety of reasons. In particular, pigs are used as a non-human test subject because in many ways their bodies respond similarly to certain aspects as humans. Additionally, pork is a common foodborne illness vector.
Positive research may impact preventative measures in pork farming and the processing industry that could benefit human consumers.
Group #1 was fed a normal diet.
Group #2 was fed a normal diet and given Listeria monocytogenes on day 8.
Group #3 was fed a Bacillus subtilis MB40 supplement-enriched diet.
Group #4 was fed a Bacillus subtilis MB40 supplement-enriched diet and given Listeria monocytogenes on day 8.
Blood samples were taken on day 1, day 8, and day 15. After 15 days, all groups were euthanized and necropsied. The liver, spleen, and intestines of all animals were analyzed.
The study found a positive result in probiotic enriched diets. The pigs that were fed the probiotic enriched diet showed 67% less bacteria in the liver and spleen and a better immune response in the blood.
“Altogether, these data suggest that MB 40 supplementation is a safe and well-tolerated approach to enhanced immunity during system Listeria infection.”
Pork, chicken, deli meats, dairy products, and vegetables are all commonly associated with potential Listeria contamination. Many of the post-harvest mitigation activities such as acid treatment, desiccation, disinfectants, ionization radiation, and antimicrobial peptides do not seem to work as effectively against Listeria monocytogenes.
In the past, livestock were given prophylactic antibiotics in an attempt to reduce the incidence of foodborne illness. But that caused a huge issue – antibiotic-resistant bacteria. As a result, this activity has been banned in the United States, European Union, and other countries.
Giving livestock probiotic-enriched feed is not entirely a new practice. Certain farmers have been working with this assumption for a while, with positive results.
As more research becomes available, this probiotic-enriched feed strategy could help reduce incidence of foodborne illness, at least from a source perspective. Temperature handling, kitchen hygiene, and other risk factors are still important.
If you’d like to know more Food Safety News, check out the Make Food Safe Blog. We regularly update trending topics, foodborne infections in the news, recalls, and more! Stay tuned for quality information to help keep your family safe, while The Lange Law Firm, PLLC strives to Make Food Safe!
By: Heather Van Tassell (contributing writer, non-lawyer)