The World Health Organization (WHO) is updating its estimate of the global burden of foodborne illness for 2025, and researchers are calling for the inclusion of Chagas disease, which has not been considered in past estimates.
Non-cultivable foodborne pathogens, such as enteric viruses and protozoan parasites like Cyclospora, present unique challenges in our food system due to significant limitations in sampling and detection. This article covers the methodological drawbacks of current methods related to interpretation of results and public health risk, while offering alternative food safety management principles to address the prevalence of these pathogens in food.
According to Health Canada, approximately four in ten people living in Northern Canada have been infected by the foodborne parasite Toxoplasma gondii, which is a much higher rate than is seen in Southern Canada.
The journal Parasite Epidemiology and Control recently published a study that analyzed information from 35 European countries, broken down by five different regions.
Officials from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have published a document highlighting ways to avoid the risks from foodborne parasites transmitted by pork, freshwater fish, and crustaceans.