Listeria monocytogenes is a facultative anaerobic foodborne pathogen widely distributed in nature. Its persistence and ubiquity are due to its adaptability to harsh conditions, such as −2 to 45 °C, pH from 3.3 to 9.5, and a high salt concentration of 10 % (w/v) NaCl (Carstens et al., 2019). Given that this pathogen is responsible for listeriosis, a disease with a global mortality rate ranging from 20 to 30 %, governments are taking proactive measures. These include undertaking recalls of foods contaminated with L. monocytogenes to prevent their consumption by individuals with compromised immune systems (Desai et al., 2019). Nonetheless, numerous investigations have indicated that L. monocytogenes is prevalent within foods and food processing environments in the form of biofilms, which are composed of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and cells. These forms of microorganisms can endure in the environment for a minimum of 8 weeks or survive cleaning and sanitation (Osek et al., 2022). Biofilms pose a formidable challenge for sterilization and disinfection methods as they provide cells with exceptional resistance to external stress and exert a detrimental impact on the food industry by elevating the potential for cross-contamination (Sauer et al., 2022).

Various antimicrobial agents, such as disinfectants, bacteriophages, metabolites of microorganisms, and natural compounds, have been gradually employed to minimize the proliferation and accumulation of foodborne pathogens (Lim et al., 2019; Yuan et al., 2021). Disinfectants are the most common chemical antimicrobial agents used for the control of pathogens. These are a diverse group of chemical agents that affect or kill an organism through the cross-linking of macromolecules, coagulation, clumping (structure and function disruption), and oxidization (Donaghy et al., 2019). Among them, chlorine-based and acid-based disinfectants and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) are widely used in the food industry because they have excellent bactericidal activity and economic efficiency (Rutala and Weber, 2019). However, there are still some limitations to the efficacy of these substances. The main reason is that their efficacy mostly depends on the applicable conditions and environment, surface characteristics, presence or absence of organic substances, and maturity of biofilms (Byun et al., 2021; Curran et al., 2019). Moreover, the general use of disinfectants has a low biofilm penetration ability and, if used inappropriately, may result in enhanced biofilm cross-resistance and a negative impact on the quality and organoleptic properties of the food (Yuan et al., 2021).

In the early 1980s, the concept of hurdle technology emerged, involving the integration of various physical, chemical, or biological methods. This approach aims to concurrently target different aspects within bacterial cells, ensuring maximum lethality and mitigating undesirable microbial contamination without quality changes (Leistner, 2000). Several studies have confirmed the effectiveness of a hurdle technology for decontamination. For example, Chen et al. (2016a) reported that 0.5 % of citric acid with 5 min UV-C irradiation reduced 2.6 log CFU/g of total bacterial count in apples without quality changes, Mukhopadhyay et al. (2019) reported that pulsed light with a new formula of sanitizer (mixture of H2O2, EDTA, and nisin) showed a 4.6 log reduction of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in spinach. Yuan et al. (2021) comprehensively reviewed the combination of physical-chemical, chemical-chemical, or biological-chemical disinfection methods applied to different types of foods and food contact surfaces to understand the control of pathogens in the food industry.

Due to the increasing demand for minimally processed foods, the combination of biological agents with disinfectants has been proposed. Bacteriophage (phage), which is a type of virus that infects and kills its host bacteria, is a promising biocontrol agent due to its strict host specificity, eco-friendliness, and non-toxicity (Byun et al., 2022b). As phage has already been granted “generally regarded as safe” (GRAS) status, attempts are being made to use it in combination with other antimicrobial agents. This approach is designed to target specific species of foodborne pathogens, combining the effectiveness of phages with the safety standards associated with disinfectants (Vikram et al., 2021).

The present study was undertaken to evaluate the antimicrobial and antibiofilm effect of single or combination treatment of chemical disinfectants or a phage cocktail against various forms of L. monocytogenes present in the food industry. The antimicrobial effect was confirmed by time-kill assay, evaluation of biofilm-forming ability, assessment of the genetic changes against planktonic cells, and biofilm eradication experiments conducted against already-formed biofilms on food contact materials (FCMs), including polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and stainless steel (SS), and foods (celery and chicken meat).