Huge demand of safe and natural preservatives has opened new area for intensive research on bacteriocins to unravel the novel range of antimicrobial compounds that could efficiently fight off the food-borne pathogens. Since food safety has become an increasingly important international concern, the application of bacteriocins from lactic acid bacteria that target food spoilage/pathogenic bacteria without major adverse effects has received great attention. Different modes of actions of these bacteriocins have been suggested and identified, like pore-forming, inhibition of cell-wall/nucleic acid/protein synthesis. However, development of resistance in the food spoilage and pathogenic bacteria against these bacteriocins is a rising concern. Emergence and spread of mutant strains resistant to bacteriocins is hampering food safety. It has spurred an interest to understand the bacteriocin resistance phenomenon displayed by the food pathogens, which will be helpful in mitigating the resistance problem. Therefore, present review is focused on the different resistance mechanisms adopted by food pathogens to overcome bacteriocin. Display omitted •Bacteriocins are ribosomally-synthesized bacterial antimicrobial peptides (AMPs).•It kills food spoilage/pathogenic bacteria from both Gram-positive and Gram-negative group.•It forms pores in bacterial cell-membrane, resulting in dissipation of proton-motive force leading to cell death.•Changes in bacterial cell-surface charge and membrane fluidity render the bacteriocins ineffective.•Pairing of bacteriocins with other AMPs and their bioengineering can tackle bacteriocins resistance.