headquarters baltimore maryland united states products bacteriophage cocktails website intralytix.com intralytix is a biotechnology company based in baltimore maryland . intralytix specializes in bacteriophage based products used to control bacterial pathogens in environmental food processing and medical settings . contents 1 listshield 2 fda and epa approval 3 references 4 external links listshield edit listshield is an intralytix product that is applied to food for the prevention of listeriosis by killing strains of food borne pathogenic listeria monocytogenes bacteria . listeriosis is a serious disease with a high rate of mortality in susceptible individuals . it is almost exclusively contracted by consuming contaminated food . since the l. monocytogenes bacteria are omnipresent in nature even the most thorough hygiene concepts fail to guarantee that food products are free of listeria . bacteriophages are among the best studied organisms in the natural world . this is because their molecular biology is relatively simple . many molecular principles were first studied in bacteriophages prior to being found in higher organisms . bacteriophages are ubiquitous . high numbers can be found in seawater and also in fermented foods such as yogurt or cheese . bacteriophages are extremely specific in the bacteria they recognize . the recognition is often limited to specific strains of one species in rare cases several strains of the same species or genus are recognized . with this fact in mind their potential in fighting unwanted bacteria has recently received increased attention . listshield is an aqueous phage preparation containing six listeria specific bacteriophages designed to attack a very broad spectrum of listeria monocytogenes strains . fda and epa approval edit in august 2006 the u.s. food and drug administration approved intralytix s listshield for direct application on foods . 1 it was also awarded environmental protection agency approval for environmental uses as a method decontaminating non food contact surfaces in food processing facilities . 2 intralytix was the first company to receive approval from the fda and usda for a bacteriophage based product for food safety applications . 3 this mixture is sprayed on food or surfaces related to food production . if listeria is present in the food the bacteria will be infected by the bacteriophages . this results in replication inside the bacteria ultimately ending in the bacteria being killed . it does not alter the general composition taste aroma or color of foods . field trials demonstrated the solution to be 100 % effective in the elimination of listeria monocytogenes . references edit daniells stephen fda approves viruses as food additive for meats http www.foodnavigator usa.com 23 august 2006 byrne jane epa approved antimicrobial could control listeria in food plants http www.foodqualitynews.com 01 july 2008 federal register august 18 2006 volume 71 number 160 pages 47729 47732 http frwebgate6.access.gpo.gov cgi bin textgate.cgi waisdocid 467022320454 0 1 0 & waisaction retrieve external links edit intralytix website . this article about a medical pharmaceutical or biotechnological corporation or company is a stub . you can help wikipedia by expanding it . v t e retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title intralytix & oldid 742641737 categories biotechnology companies of the united statesmedical company stubshidden categories all stub articles navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 4 october 2016 at 22 24 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view