Hey Foodies!

Ever wondered about those mysterious ingredients listed on your food labels? Well, here’s some food for thought: a recent study published in ACS Chemical Biology suggests that a common natural food preservative might not be as friendly to our gut as we thought.

So, what’s the scoop? This preservative, called a lantibiotic, has been hailed for its ability to keep food fresh by killing off harmful pathogens. But here’s the twist – it turns out that while it’s busy fighting the bad guys, it might also be harming the good bacteria in our gut.

Researchers at the University of Chicago dug into this dilemma by studying how a popular lantibiotic called nisin affects the bacteria in our gut. They found that not only does nisin wipe out pathogens, but it also takes down some of our friendly gut bacteria along with them.

Now, why does this matter? Well, our gut is home to a bustling community of microbes, and keeping them happy is key to our overall health. So, while lantibiotics might be great for keeping our food fresh, they could be disrupting the delicate balance of our gut microbiome.

But fear not, fellow food enthusiasts! Researchers are on the case, exploring ways to minimize the downsides of lantibiotics while still reaping their benefits. So, next time you’re scanning those ingredient lists, maybe give those lantibiotics a second thought.

Zhenrun J. Zhang, Chunyu Wu, Ryan Moreira, Darian Dorantes, Téa Pappas, Anitha Sundararajan, Huaiying Lin, Eric G. Pamer, and Wilfred A. van der Donk. Activity of Gut-Derived Nisin-like Lantibiotics against Human Gut Pathogens and Commensals. ACS Chemical Biology Article ASAP. DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.3c00577