Abstract
BackgroundThe presence of Anisakis larvae in fish represents a major public health concern. Effective risk management procedures should be applied to prevent heavily infected products from reaching the market. The aim of the study is to provide preliminary data on parasite exposure and risk classification in frozen fish products by applying a risk categorization scheme (site, abundance, density and epidemiology – SADE) and Fish Parasite Rating (FPR) method. Fish and cephalopods samples (N = 771) from 5 different FAO Atlantic areas were examined and categorized after an accurate visual inspection and a chloro-peptic digestion.ResultsIn 25 out of 33 fish species parasite larvae were found. 10897 anisakids larvae were collected and identified to genus level. Molva dypterygia, Conger conger, Zeus faber and Aphanopus carbo were shown to be the most highly infected species. SADE and FPR scores were 1 and poor, respectively, for the referred species, because of the disseminated Anisakis infection and commercial rejection.ConclusionSADE/FPR method showed high specificity and accuracy. The information provided in this work could be used in early warning systems for the detection of parasites in fishery products and might help fishing industries in establishing management strategies for infected stocks in terms of cost saving decisions.
Highlights
The presence of Anisakis larvae in fish represents a major public health concern
Anisakis have been included among the biological hazards reported through the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) of the European Commission, within the European Union (EU)
Nematode larvae were not detected in Mallotus villosus, Glyptocephalus cynoglossus, Dicologlossa cuneata, Galeoides decadactylus, Trachurus trecae, Salilota australis, Atlantoraja castelnaui and Serranus cabrilla
Summary
The presence of Anisakis larvae in fish represents a major public health concern. Effective risk management procedures should be applied to prevent heavily infected products from reaching the market. The larvae live in the gut, visceral peritoneum and flesh of many marine fish and cephalopod species and can colonize through different trophic bridges ensuring and widening the parasite life cycle. A positive relationship between body size/age of fish and larval nematode prevalence and/or abundance has been demonstrated in several commercially important fish species from different wild catch sea areas [4,5,6,7]. Because no sea fishing grounds can be considered Anisakis free and the infection by anisakid larvae in fish is a natural condition and their complete eradication is not feasible [8], surveillance studies are of great interest to determine the risk exposure for those hot-spot geographic areas of parasite recruitment to fish production value chains. Anisakis have been included among the biological hazards reported through the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) of the European Commission, within the European Union (EU)
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