Abstract: Foods may be contaminated by foodborne pathogens during production, processing, transportation, storage, and consumption, resulting in hidden safety hazards. Currently, many sterilization methods are available to control foodborne pathogens including thermal processing, irradiation, electrolyzed water and plasma. But they have some disadvantages in terms of food sensory quality, large-scale application, and safe production. Lactic acid bacteria are widely used as starter cultures and preservatives in foods because of their versatile biolgical activity, and they also can antagonize foodborne pathogens in foods. In this article, the antibacterial mechanism of lactic acid bacteria is expounded from the perspectives of competitive effect, interference with the bacterial virulence signal system and antibacterial metabolites, and the latest application of lactic acid bacteria against foodborne pathogens in dairy products, meat products, and fruit and vegetable products is reviewed. We hope that this review could provide a new idea for the control of foodborne pathogens and the development of lactic acid bacteria preparations.

Key words: lactic acid bacteria; foodborne pathogen; antimicrobial effect; antimicrobial mechanism; application