Presence of Cryptosporidium parvum in pre-washed vegetables from different supermarkets in South East England: A pilot study

TL;DR

This study found Cryptosporidium parvum in pre-washed vegetables from UK supermarkets, highlighting a potential food safety risk.

Contribution

The study is the first to detect Cryptosporidium parvum in pre-washed and ready-to-eat vegetables in the UK.

Findings

58% of 24 tested samples were PCR-positive for Cryptosporidium.

17% of the PCR-positive samples showed significant similarity to Cryptosporidium parvum.

Abstract

Cryptosporidium is an important water-borne and food-borne parasite with a high burden of disease. This organism has been shown to contaminate various leafy vegetables; however, studies assessing the presence of Cryptosporidium spp in pre-washed and ready-to-eat vegetables are limited. Routine surveillance in the UK revealed a nationwide exceedance of human cases of Cryptosporidium. Therefore, this study aims to assess the presence of this parasite in pre-washed vegetables from supermarkets in the UK. A total of 36 samples were purchased from four different supermarkets. A nested PCR targeting the SSU rRNA was carried out on 24 samples, 58% were PCR-positive for Cryptosporidium. Sanger sequencing confirmed that, of these sequences, 4/24 (17%) produced significant similarities to Cryptosporidium parvum. This study provides evidence for the presence of C. parvum in pre-washed and ready-to-eat vegetables. Future work to identify the point of contamination is required.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00436-024-08250-w.