ABSTRACT
Bacteriocin-producing, probiotic enterococci are used, for example, in cheese manufacture to minimize the risk of milk and cheese contamination by spoilage bacteria in order to achieve a zero-tolerance target and to prevent late blowing. In agriculture, animal production represents the area with the oldest tradition of established probiotic applications. The awareness of bacteriocins produced by enterococci has substantially increased since it became necessary to reclassify the enterocin group of bacteriocin itself, though following the general bacteriocins classification. In contrast to enterococcal probiotics, enterocins were not used in so many different animals, although they have benefits on animal health. The issue of antibiotic resistance transfer, however, remains and should be judged on a strain-by-strain basis as is in any case common for probiotics. Poultry breeding also represents a branch of animal production in which probiotics based on E. faecium strains are utilized to prevent or to reduce the risk of salmonellosis, clostridiosis, or campylobacteriosis.
