**Abstract**

In intensive poultry production, a large number of antimicrobials are frequently employed to prevent (prophylactic use) and treat (therapeutic use) diseases, as well as for growth promotion (subtherapeutic use), in order to increase productivity. However, it has been reported that the use of antimicrobials at subtherapeutic doses is closely related to the increase in bacterial resistance and with the treatment failure. In addition to antimicrobial resistance, another problem derived from the use of antimicrobials is the presence of residues in animal products. Therefore, these problems and the ban of antimicrobial as growth promoters have prompted the poultry industry to look for alternatives with similar benefits to antibiotics. Among these alternatives, probiotics are one of the most widely studied and interesting groups. Hence, in the present chapter, the effect of probiotics and direct-fed microbial against foodborne pathogens and mycotoxins will be summarized.

**Keywords:** probiotics, direct-fed microbial, foodborne pathogens, antimicrobial resistance, aflatoxins
