Inactivation of parasite transmission stages: efficacy of treatments on foods of non-animal origin

Conclusions: The efficacy of treatments depends on parasite species, developmental stage, matrix, and application conditions. Conventional pasteurization (72 °C; 15 sec) inactivates parasites in most matrices, although some parasites are more heat resistant, and this may be an inappropriate method for many FoNAO that are intended for eating fresh and raw. Freezing at -20 °C for 2 days inactivates most, but not all, parasites, and some are highly resistant to freezing. Parasites generally survive chemical disinfection, making its application at effective doses often unsuitable at an industrial scale. Ozone and chlorine dioxide are the most promising in terms of efficacy and dosage, nevertheless challenges remain in their application especially for the most fragile produce. High-pressure processing is an efficient technology, providing good inactivation of parasites. Further research should focus on standardizing experimental approaches for evaluation of inactivation techniques and development of methods to measure parasite inactivation in food matrices.
Source: Trends in Food Science and Technology - Category: Food Science Source Type: research