UN Agencies release “Top 10” list of food-borne parasites

Two United Nations’ Agencies have released the “Top 10" list of food-borne parasites of greatest global concern, and new guidelines are being developed to control them. According to a report published jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization’s (WHO), 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, of which some can live in our bodies for decades.

The report which was made available to the Ghana News Agency on Wednesday by Peter Lowrey, Communication Officer of the FAO Agriculture and Consumer Protection Department, said 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 Agencies are initially focusing on the 10 food-borne parasites with the greatest global impact. The rankings contained in 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 top 10 include 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) and Cryptosporidium spp.(protozoa) - in fresh produce, fruit juice, milk.

The rest are 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 and 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. 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 10 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 10 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. According to the report, it is difficult to know how globally widespread parasites are, because in many countries it is not compulsory to notify public health authorities of their presence.

It said in most African nations there is no data at all on the prevalence of food-borne parasites in humans, because there is a general lack of surveillance systems.