Bacterial Strains Could Inhibit Salmonella And E. coli

Healthy eating is very important to our wellbeing. But that doesn’t just mean eating plenty of fruit and vegetables; it also means preparing your food in the right way. Catching diseases and viruses from off or undercooked food can be a huge source of worry for people across the world. Take the concept of chicken – a healthy, nutritious and lean meat, but cooked incorrectly and you can run the risk of developing salmonella.

Sometimes, of course, no matter how careful you are, you will encounter food that will not be good for you. It’s then that you can become seriously ill through no fault of your own. Fortunately, however, there is good news in terms of avoiding the most dangerous health hazards from badly cooked or out-of-date food.

A team of Spanish scientists have identified three bacterial strains that have the potential to be used as probiotics due to their ability to inhibit the growth of pathogenic strains such as E. coli and salmonella. Probiotics are live microorganisms that can provide you with a number of health benefits when taken in large enough doses.

The scientists isolated the bacterial stains from the faeces of infants. They then tested these strains and their effectiveness against a number of serious health problems to see what difference they made. The study showed that the strains inhibited the growth of E. coli, salmonella and shigella by up to 45, 50 and 81 percent respectively.

Far more research needs to be done in the area to see if the trials can be effective outside of a lab, and indeed whether it is possible to confer the useful properties for humans. But for now it is a step in the right direction against a number of very serious conditions that is threatening the wellbeing of hundreds of thousands of people every year.