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Review: Assessing and managing risk due to consumption of seafood contaminated with micro‐organisms, parasites, and natural toxins in the US
Author(s) -
Ahmed Farid E.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
international journal of food science and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.831
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1365-2621
pISSN - 0950-5423
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2621.1992.tb02026.x
Subject(s) - shellfish , biology , food poisoning , hazard analysis and critical control points , environmental health , vibrio , food contaminant , fishery , food safety , risk analysis (engineering) , fish <actinopterygii> , aquatic animal , medicine , microbiology and biotechnology , food science , bacteria , genetics
Summary While most seafoods consumed in the US are wholesome, a variety of infectious agents and toxins have been implicated in disease aetiology. The major risk of acute illness is associated with consumption of raw molluscan shellfish. Most reported seafood‐associated illness (55%) have unknown aetiologies; they are believed to be due mainly to Norwalk, Norwalk‐like, or human enteric virus infection, with a smaller proportion caused by Vibrio bacteria. Parasites are less common than microbiological infections, with anisakids and cestodes having the greatest risks. People consuming tropically‐caught fish have a risk of acquiring ciguatera poisoning. Other common natural intoxications (mainly scombroid and to a lesser extent paralytic poisonings) occur due to consumption of finfish and shellfish, respectively. Reduction of risks from the consumption of raw molluscs and other fishery products can be achieved by the following means: research to develop valid human enteric virus indicators, implementing and maintaining proper treatment and disposal of sewage, efforts aimed at identifying and limiting the number of pathogenic Vibrio species in shellfish, developing new diagnostic methods and improved processing technologies, applying risk‐based control measures for potential microbial pathogens in raw shellfish, cooking of seafoods, and proper application of a Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) system to processing and preparation operations of fishery products.