Background: The growing concern of antibiotic resistance and the pressure for safer methods of food preservation renew interest in the antibacterial properties of medicinal plants. This paper presents a screening exercise carried out on the antibacterial activity of 9 selected medicinal plants against food associated bacteria namely, Bacillus cereus and Escherichia coli. The potential of these plants to act as natural antibacterial agents was compared with the efficacy of chemical preservatives and antibiotics. In this context, an attempt was made to extract the phytochemical composition through the most potential extracts. Result: The agar well diffusion method was carried out to test the antibacterial efficacy in extracts of Jamun, Black Pepper, Marigold, Bel Patra, Saunth, Sauf, Cinnamon, Timur, and Mulethi. Antibacterial activity of various extracts against E. coli and B.cereus: Only the extracts of Jamun and Cinnamon showed very high inhibitory activities against both E. coli and B. cereus whereas there were no inhibition zones in case of the chemical preservatives like acetic acid and benzoic acid. Gentamycin showed maximum inhibitory activity against both test bacteria followed by chloramphenicol and erythromycin. Bacillus cereus was sensitive against all tested antibiotics. Minimum Inhibitory Concentration of ethanolic extract of Jamunwas estimated to be 2.5% (w/v) i.e. 25mg/ml against E. coli and 1.25% (w/v) i.e. 12.5mg/ml against B. cereus.The combination of ethanolic extract Jamun and Cinnamon extracts againstE. coli showed synergistic activity with a zone of inhibition of 22 mm. Conclusion: The phytochemical analysis showed the presence of alkaloids, saponins, phytosterols, triterpenes, phenols, flavonoids in Jamun ethanolic extract and absence of carbohydrates, proteins, and amino acid. The findings suggest that extracts of Jamun and Cinnamon could work as natural preservatives against chemicals, opening some promising avenues for enhancing food safety and extending shelf life by inhibiting harmful bacteria.