The FDA has approved a new way to fight food poisoning in deli meats: Douse them in a virus.

Scientists say it’ll make cold cuts safer. I say l just lost my appetite.

I’m already a bit suspicious of luncheon meats (too much packaging, too many unidentifiable chemicals), but I like a club sandwich as much as the next person. But I’m not so sure after reading a Los Angeles Times article that the Food and Drug Administration just green-lighted the use of bacteriophages (bacteria-eating viruses) to prevent the most deadly food-borne illness, listeriosis.

Bacteriophage work like this: Researchers cook up a “cocktail” of certain harmless viruses designed to kill the dreaded bacteria lurking on our sliced turkey, roast beef, hot dogs, bologna and, my personal favorite, pastrami. The virus cocktail is then sprayed onto the meat so that phage will attach themselves to the bacteria and kill them.

These phage should stave off food-poisoning outbreaks. Official data shows that about 2,500 people in the U.S. contract listeriosis food poisoning and 500 die each year. There are also plans to develop phage to fight off two other common food-poisoning bugs, E. coli and salmonella.

But so far, consumers aren’t exactly thrilled by the idea. The FDA has already gotten concerned calls from people who want to know if their wholesome turkey sandwich has been doused with a virus. To check if you’re eating phage-on-rye, check the ingredient list for “bacteriophage preparation.”

Meanwhile, scientists are quick to say that phage are safe. In fact, it seems that phage are everywhere (including all over us) and they’re harmless. For now, however, major companies like Oscar Mayer have no immediate plans to start spraying their products.

While I understand that ultimately this may be smart from a public health standpoint, the yuck-factor is pretty high. Maybe it’s just too much information. Maybe viruses just need a good P.R. makeover.

Either way, I’ll be sticking to veggie wraps for a long time to come.