UN's Food and Agriculture Organization Releases "Top Ten" Global List of Food-Borne Parasites, Begins Developing New Guidelines with World Health Organization to Control Them
July 04, 2014 2:11 PM EDT | Source: NewMediaWire
Rome, Italy--(Newsfile Corp. - July 4, 2014) - NewMediaWire - A "Top Ten" list identifying the
food-borne parasites of greatest global concern has been released by the Food
and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the
United Nations, and new guidelines are being developed to control them.
The parasites affect the health of millions of people every year, infecting
muscle tissues and organs, causing epilepsy, anaphylactic shock, amoebic
dysentery and other problems. Some can live on in our bodies for decades.
Despite their huge social costs and global impacts, information is generally
lacking regarding just where these parasites come from, how they live in the
human body, and – most importantly – how they make us sick.
As a first step in tackling the problem, the UN's Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO) are initially focusing
on the 10 food-borne parasites with the greatest global impact. The rankings
contained in the FAO-WHO report, Multicriteria-based ranking
for risk management of food-borne parasites, are based on the
parasites' burden on human health and other factors, and includes information
on where they can be found.
The FAO-WHO Top Ten are:
- Taenia solium (pork tapeworm): In pork
- Echinococcus granulosus (hydatid worm or dog tapeworm): In fresh produce
- Echinococcus multilocularis (a type of tapeworm): In fresh produce
- Toxoplasma gondii (protozoa): In meat from small ruminants, pork, beef, game meat (red meat and organs)
- Cryptosporidium spp.(protozoa): In fresh produce, fruit juice, milk
- Entamoeba histolytica (protozoa): In fresh produce
- Trichinella spiralis (pork worm): In pork
- Opisthorchiidae (family of flatworms): In freshwater fish
- Ascaris spp. (small intestinal roundworms): In fresh produce
- Trypanosoma cruzi (protozoa): In fruit juices
The list and supporting
report were developed following a request by the global food standards body,
the Codex
Alimentarius Commission (Codex), for FAO and WHO to review the current
status of knowledge on parasites in food and their public health and trade
impacts.
FAO's food safety and quality unit and WHO responded by jointly organizing a
global call for information on the problem. Twenty-two nations and one regional
body responded, followed by an assessment and analysis by 21 experts on the
impact of food-borne parasites.
From this work, an initial list of 93 parasites was developed. The list was
then narrowed down to the 24 most damaging parasites based on the following
criteria: 1) number of global illnesses 2) global distribution 3) acute
morbidity 4) chronic morbidity and 5) economic impact.
What next?
The Codex Committee on Food Hygiene is now developing new guidelines for the
control of these parasites. FAO and WHO are supporting the process by providing
scientific and technical information.
The aim is to develop new standards for the global food trade that will help
countries control the presence of these parasites in the food chain.
"Obviously this top ten is a more general, global perspective and does not
necessarily reflect parasite rankings at a national level where each country
may have more precise information," said Renata Clarke, head of food
safety and quality at FAO.
"But considering the problems they cause, these parasites do not get the
attention they deserve. We hope that by releasing a top ten ranking we can
increase awareness among policy makers, the media and the general public about
this major public health issue," she added.
The FAO-WHO report lists a number of ways to reduce the risk of parasite
infections. For farmers, it advises the use of organic fertilizer, particularly
on produce, should be closely monitored to ensure it is composted properly and
all fecal matter is removed. Water quality must also be closely monitored. For
consumers, it advises that all meat should be well cooked and only clean water
should be used to wash and prepare vegetables.
Parasites by continent
Classified biologically as protozoa and helminths (but better known as tapeworms, flatworms and roundworms), it is difficult to know how widespread parasites are globally because in many countries it is not compulsory to notify public health authorities of their presence.
- In Europe, more than 2,500 people are affected by food-borne parasitic infections each year. In 2011 there were 268 cases of trichinellosis and 781 cases of echinococcosis recorded in the EU.
- In Asia, there is no precise national data but parasitic diseases are known to be widely spread and are recognized as major public health problems in many countries.
- In most African nations there is no data at all on the prevalence of food borne parasites in humans because of a general lack of surveillance systems.
- In the United States, Neurocysticercosis, caused by Taenia solium, is the single-most common infectious cause of seizures in some areas of the U.S. where 2,000 people are diagnosed with neurocysticercosis every year. Toxoplasmosis is a leading cause of food-borne illness and death.
DOWNLOAD REPORT: Multicriteria-based ranking for risk management of food-born parasites
This volume and others in this Microbiological Risk Assessment Series contain information that is useful to both risk assessors and risk managers, the Codex Alimentarius Commission, governments and regulatory agencies, food producers and processers and other institutions or individuals with an interest in food-borne parasites and their impact on food safety, public health and livelihoods.
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FAO information on foodborne parasites
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Source: UN's Food and Agriculture Organization