title: Food safety considerations in relation to Anisakis pegreffii in anchovies (Engraulis encrasicolus) and sardines (Sardina pilchardus) fished off the Ligurian Coast (Cinque Terre National Park, NW Mediterranean).
abstract: Engraulis encrasicolus and Sardina pilchardus are pelagic fishes of notable economic and gastronomic importance in the northwest Mediterranean (Ligurian Sea, Italy). The consumption of thermally unprocessed or lightly processed, marinated or salted anchovies and sardines presents a potential risk to acquire anisakiasis, a fish-borne parasitic disease in humans. Prevalence and abundance of Anisakis larvae in Engraulis encrasicolus and Sardina pilchardus from the Monterosso fishing grounds (Cinque Terre National Park, Ligurian Sea, Italy) were assessed, and the larvae were identified by morphological and PCR-RFLP methods. Anisakis larvae, all belonging to Anisakis pegreffii spp. were found in the visceral mass of 1050 anchovies (0.8% overall prevalence), whereas no Anisakis larvae were found in the 750 sardines examined. According to these data, the risk of acquiring anisakiasis from the consumption of raw or undercooked anchovies and sardines caught in the fishing area we investigated is very low.
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d'Aosta, Sezione La Spezia, Marine Microbiology Laboratory, Italy. Electronic address: laura.serracca@izsto.it.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Serracca
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d'Aosta, Sezione La Spezia, Marine Microbiology Laboratory, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Battistini
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d'Aosta, Sezione La Spezia, Marine Microbiology Laboratory, Italy.
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Rossini
authors.affiliation: Hygiene and Environmental Virology Laboratory, Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Annalaura
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Carducci
authors.affiliation: Hygiene and Environmental Virology Laboratory, Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Verani
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d'Aosta, Laboratorio di Ittiopatologia, Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: Marino
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Prearo
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d'Aosta, Sezione La Spezia, Marine Microbiology Laboratory, Italy.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tomei
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d'Aosta, Sezione La Spezia, Marine Microbiology Laboratory, Italy.
authors.forename: Gabriella
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: De Montis
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d'Aosta, Sezione La Spezia, Marine Microbiology Laboratory, Italy.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ercolini
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017129:Anisakiasis / Q000469:parasitology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D017163:Anisakis / Q000235:genetics; D005399:Fishes / Q000469:parasitology*; D016266:Food Parasitology; D059022:Food Safety; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D007814:Larva; D008522:Mediterranean Sea; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D017747:Seafood / Q000469:parasitology
keywords: Anchovy; Anisakiasis; Ligurian Sea; PCR-RFLP; Sardines