Guided Biotics® for control of Clostridium perfringens in food production

As many as 600 million people fall ill every year because of ingesting contaminated food, resulting in as many as 420,000 deaths every year worldwide. This problem is only set to worsen in the face of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which is likely to be responsible for 10 million deaths per year by 2050 as once curable diseases become untreatable and life-endangering. The importance of food safety has therefore never been more important for human and animal health.

A large and compelling body of scientific evidence demonstrates that the use of antibiotics in non-clinical settings, such as agriculture, is a major contributor to the emergence of resistant bacteria and their spread to humans. In response, large economies such as the EU, the US, and China have prohibited the use of antibiotics to promote the growth of animals and to prevent blooms of harmful bacteria.

In light of these regulations and the growing threat of AMR, sustainable alternatives to antibiotics are required.

The importance of a healthy gut is as important in food production as it is in our own diets. "Good bacteria" help animals to have better health and to grow faster and can be provided in their diet as a probiotic. Antibiotics are our number one weapon to be used against bacteria that cause disease, however, their use also results in the loss of the beneficial bacteria.

FOLIUM Science is developing a range of health-promoting probiotic additives to animal feed that are augmented with a technology that allows the specific removal of certain pathogenic bacteria.

Unlike antibiotics and other solutions, the technology does not generate resistance and leaves the beneficial population of gut bacteria untouched. This technology is called Guided Biotics(r) (GBs(r)) and has already been applied to precisely eliminate the foodborne pathogen _Salmonella_ from chickens. _Clostridium perfringens_ (_Cp_) is one of the most common causes of foodborne disease in the USA, behind only _Norovirus_ and _Salmonella_ (CDC, 2011). _Cp_ is also responsible for severe disease and death in farm animals, with an estimated cost of $6 billion to the poultry market alone, each year.

FOLIUM Science is aiming to build on its portfolio of GB(r) products by developing a GB(r)-based solution to eliminate _Cp_. FOLIUM's _Cp_ treatment will offer an effective and sustainable alternative to antibiotics and represents a momentous step forward for the farming community and the food industry in improving food production, security and quality.