Abstract
Trichinellosis is a foodborne parasitic zoonosis, caused by nematodes within the genus Trichinella. Pigs and wild animals are known sources of Trichinella infections for humans. The Commission Regulation 2075/2005 of the European Union (EU) established that all Trichinella spp. susceptible animals, which are suitable for human consumption, must be tested for these parasites using approved methodologies. Recently, the ISO 18743:2015 Standard on the detection of Trichinella larvae in animals was published. The purpose of this paper was to compare the method described in the ISO Standard with the reference method established in the Commission Regulation of the EU. The comparison was made by setting each clause of the standard versus the corresponding step of the Regulation. The artificial digestion of pooled muscle samples was recognized by both documents as the main reference method and the procedures described were very similar. The ISO Standard provides the basic principles and properties of the essential steps of the method and highlights the Critical Control Points (CCPs) of the procedure, which can affect the performance of the method, providing detailed instructions aimed at inexperienced analysts. The respective roles of the Standard and of the Regulation are also clarified. International standards are developed to provide agreed upon specifications relating to particular matters, while legislation sets mandatory requirements established by public authorities. Thus, European laboratories officially appointed for the detection of Trichinella in meat are required to apply the methods described in the Regulation, but may also rely on the ISO Standard for detailed steps and CCPs.
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References
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We are very grateful to Belgees Boufana for editing the manuscript.
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This work was in part funded by the DG SANTE of the European Commission.
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Patrizia Rossi declares that she has no conflict of interest; she was the project Leader of the ISO/TC34/SC9/WG6 Subgroup “Trichinella” that developed the ISO 18743 standard and member of the ICT Quality Assurance Committee. Kris de Smet declares that he has no conflict of interest; he is the desk officer at the European Commission for legislation on foodborne parasites. Edoardo Pozio declares that he has no conflict of interest; he was a member of the ISO/TC34/SC9/WG6 Subgroup “Trichinella” that developed the ISO 18743 standard, member of the ICT Quality Assurance Committee, and he participated as expert to the development of the CE Regulation 2075/2005 and to the EU Regulation 2015/1375.
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Rossi, P., de Smet, K. & Pozio, E. Detection of Trichinella Larvae in Meat: Comparison of ISO 18743:2015 with Regulation (EU) 2015/1375. Food Anal. Methods 10, 634–639 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12161-016-0619-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12161-016-0619-y