Foods including meat, milk, fish, fruit and vegetables can be contaminated with different parasites. Examples include Toxoplasma gondii and Taenia solium (pork tapeworm) which can be carried by animals and transmitted to humans when they eat contaminated meat that is raw or undercooked. Humans infected with Taenia solium can develop brain cysts, and this is the most frequent preventable cause of epilepsy in the world. Three key ways to control foodborne parasites are to prevent infection in farmed food animals, prevent contamination of fresh and processed foods, and inactivate parasites in foods during processing (e.g. freezing, heat treatment). In 2016, the Codex Alimentarius Commission adopted guidelines on the hygienic production of various types of foods to control parasites and protect health – Guidelines on the Application of the General Principles of Food Hygiene to the Control of Foodborne Parasites (CAC/GL 88 – 2016). These guidelines expand Codex guidance on parasite control, following prior work resulting in Guidelines for the control of Taenia saginata in Meat of Domestic Cattle (CAC/GL 85-2014) and Guidelines for the Control of Trichinella spp. in Meat of Suidae (CAC/GL 86 – 2015), which were adopted in 2014 and 2015, respectively.
International Association for Food and Waterborne Parasitology
