WASHINGTON—U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) microbiologists are experimenting with naturally occurring bacteria that can kill Salmonella and other pathogens on fresh fruits and vegetables, reported The Washington Post.
Eric Brown and his team worked with more than 300 species of plant bacteria before isolating five "good" bacteria effective against Salmonella. Those five species of bacteria don't appear to be harmful to humans though further investigation is needed.
"The beauty is that we take something alive and organic and put it back into the field, and by itself, it will kill other bacteria. We're right on the edge of this," said Brown, who presented his findings this month at an international Salmonella conference in France.