A bacterial composition that inhibits E. coli O157:H7 growth by as much as 93% and Salmonella growth by as much as 97%, together with commensurate inhibition rates against the Big-Six Escherichia coli strains referred to as the non-O157 STECs that include E. coli O121:H19 E. coli O45:H2 E. coli O103:H11 E. coli O145, E. coli O26:H11 and E. coli O111. The composition is constituted of various combinations of the following four unique pathogen-inhibiting bacteria: (1) Lactobacillus animalis strain MB101 (2) Lactobacillus animalis strain MB102 (3) Enterococcus faecium strain MB505 and (4) Pediococcus acidilactici strain MB902. Each of the discovered bacteria is deposited with the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) and respectively has an individual ATCC Accession Number.
