Everyone wants to be in the know about food safety and food recalls, but the words most commonly associated with the problem: Listeria, E. coli, and Salmonella create fear and havoc with the entire food supply. Now we can take a step back and encourage manufacturers to go inside the spice rack and do some preventative preparation.

According to The Institute of Food Technologies: Oregano, allspice, and garlic essential oils are effective natural barriers against the food demons. The Journal of Food Science article found that oregano oil proved the most effective antimicrobial, inhibiting the growth of all three bacteria. Garlic oil worked best against Listeria, but not E. coli or Salmonella, but oregano and allspice oils proved effective against those two bacteria.

In another “oil” study, cinnamon oil outperformed allspice and clove bud oils against the three common bacteria.

Now it’s up to manufacturers to figure out how to incorporate these essential oils and provide safe products we can all enjoy.