Marine organisms exhibit a rich chemical content that possess unique structural features as compared to terrestrial metabolites. Among marine resources, marine algae are a rich source of chemically diverse compounds with the possibility of their potential use as a novel class of artificial food ingredients and antimicrobial agents. The objective of this brief review is to identify new candidate drugs for antimicrobial activity against food-borne pathogenic bacteria. Bioactive compounds derived from brown algae are discussed, namely phlorotannins, that have anti-microbial effects and therefore may be useful to explore as potential antimicrobial agents for the food and pharmaceutical industries.