Processing Strategies to Inactivate Hepatitis A Virus in Food Products: A Critical Review

Abstract

Hepatitis A infection, caused by hepatitis A virus (HAV), is the leading cause of human viral hepatitis throughout the world and is mainly propagated via the fecal-oral route. Transnational outbreaks of food-borne infections are reported with increasing frequency as a consequence of international food trade. Food-borne outbreaks caused by HAV are mainly associated with bivalve molluscs, produce (soft fruits and leafy greens), and ready-to-eat meals. The purpose of this paper was to conduct a structured and systematic review of the published literature on the current state of knowledge regarding the stability of HAV in foods as well as the efficacy of food processing strategies and to identify and prioritize research gaps regarding practical and effective mechanisms to reduce HAV contamination of foods. In particular, processing and disinfection strategies for the 3 food categories have been compiled in this review, including common and emerging food technologies. Overall, most of these processes can improve food safety; however, from a commercial point of view, none of the methods can guarantee total HAV inactivation without affecting the organoleptic qualities of the food product.

Improving efficiency of viability-qPCR for selective detection of infectious HAV in food and water samples

“…Consumption of produce (soft fruits and leafy greens) and shellfish are commonly attributed to hepatitis A outbreaks (Sánchez ). Despite the development of an ISO method for HAV detection in different food matrices, one of the main challenges for the food industry is the need to better understand the relationship between RT‐qPCR signals and infectivity of wild‐type HAV strains.…”

“…Consequently, hepatitis A infection generally occurs through the faecal–oral route either by direct contact with an HAV‐infected person, ingestion of contaminated water or food, or in a lesser extent by contact with contaminated fomites (Hollinger and Emerson ). As a result of the increasing number of hepatitis A outbreaks associated with imported foods in high‐income countries (reviewed by Sánchez ), HAV has been considered as a re‐emerging foodborne public health threat (Sprenger ). Moreover, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recently estimated that there are 14 million cases and 28 000 deaths of foodborne hepatitis A worldwide every year (WHO ).…”

Shellfish: Nutritive Value, Health Benefits, and Consumer Safety

“…Aeromonas hydrophila , an agent of foodborne diarrheal disease, produces a wide range of cytotoxic enterotoxins and hemolysins (Khora ). Hepatitis A virus spreads through raw or undercooked shellfish and can cause liver disease (Sanchez ). Annually more than 1.4 million new cases of hepatitis A occur worldwide (WHO ).…”

“…The health status of bivalves during depuration can be monitored by their glycogen content (Anacleto and others (). Depuration also significantly reduces contaminated pathogens from shellfish, although it is less effective to reduce hepatitis A to a significant level (Sanchez ). Commercial processing methods are generally inadequate to completely inactivate hepatitis A virus.…”

Efficacy of domestic cooking inactivation of human hepatitis A virus in experimentally infected manila clams (Ruditapes philippinarum)

“…Several studies in literature were performed to investigate heat inactivation of HAV in different species and food (see review by Sànchez ). As for shellfish, Croci et al .…”