BackgroundHealthy diet including fruits and vegetables reduces the risk of chronic disease such as heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes. A broad range of nutrients, phytochemicals, vitamins and minerals are provided through adhering to the diets containing the fruits and vegetables (1). Since the vegetables are served uncooked, without any processing, the contamination of these products seems very important. They can transfer pathogens from planting through consuming process (2). Vegetables will be contaminated with viral, bacterial or parasitological pathogens from different sources, such as human feces and manure that are widely applied as soil fertilizers. Untreated sewage is also used as a source of agricultural water in some regions (3). Foodborne disorders have attracted the attention of public health authorities across the world, as the World Health Organization (WHO) has reported 31 bacteria, viruses, parasites and toxins as the causes of food borne diseases particularly in low socio-economic regions in the world (4). Enteric outbreaks have been reported following consumption of tomatoes, spinach, lettuce and seed sprouts (3). Hamadan province is located in a mountainous region in west of Iran. Vegetables are provided by local farmers in spring and summer but in autumn and winter vegetables are imported from relatively hot regions such as Khuzestan province due to the cold weather of Hamadan province.
ObjectivesThe present study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of parasitic contamination caused by consumption of raw vegetables as potential source of parasite dissemination.
Material and Methods
SamplingThis study was carried out in Hamadan, west of Iran. The city is located between 34 o 8 ' latitude north and 48 o 5 ' longitude east, and is 1810 m above the sea level, with a population of 676 105 according to 2016 Iranian Population and Housing Census (5). This study was carried out from April 2017 to March 2018. For this purpose, first sampling was done during spring and summer and the second sampling was carried out over the autumn and winter. Samples included parsley, coriander, basil, savory, mint, cress, tarragon, leek, radish and, spring onion which
