FAO Seeking Experts, Data to Inform Updated Advice on Foodborne Parasites Risk Assessment
Image credit: Trichinella cyst by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Public Health Image Library via Wikimedia Commons
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is seeking experts and data on the microbiological risk assessment of foodborne parasites to inform upcoming expert consultations of the FAO/World Health Organization (WHO) Joint Expert Meeting on Microbiological Risk Assessment (JEMRA).
There will be two JEMRA expert consultations focused on providing updated scientific advice on the detection, prevention, inactivation, and other methods of control for foodborne parasitic hazards that present a public health risk. The first meeting, scheduled for May 26–30, 2025, will discuss protozoal foodborne parasites. The second meeting, which will possibly be scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2025, will address cestodes, nematodes, and trematodes.
Through the expert consultations, FAO aims to generate risk management options for foodborne parasites based on the most recent scientific evidence, relevant to different global regions and a range of food products. Specifically, scientific advice is needed regarding:
- The global burden of parasitic disease attributed to food, based on epidemiological data
- The prevalence of contamination of foods with parasitic agents and consumption data of contaminated foods among diverse populations
- Hazard identification and characterization of foodborne parasites, including information on genetic profiles and virulence factors and mechanisms, dose-response, and the susceptibility of the host, especially within vulnerable populations
- Current monitoring, including the status of the currently available analytical methods (available and validated for regulatory purposes) for monitoring of parasites in food
- Strategies for the prevention and control of parasitic foodborne disease, especially as they may be deployed in low- and middle-income settings.
The call for experts and data is now open—more information on criteria and how to apply can be found here. Applications will be accepted until sufficiently suitable candidates are identified; review of candidates will begin no later than March 15, 2025.
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