Efficacy of sanitization protocols in removing parasites in vegetables: A protocol for a systematic review with meta-analysis

Cláudio Márcio de Medeiros Maia; Karla Suzanne Florentino da Silva Chaves Damasceno; Larissa Mont'Alverne Jucá Seabra; Gabriela Chaves; Lívia Maria da Costa Dantas; Francisco Canindé de Sousa Júnior; Cristiane Fernandes de Assis

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0268258

Efficacy of sanitization protocols in removing parasites in vegetables: A protocol for a systematic review with meta-analysis

PLoS One. 2022 May 10;17(5):e0268258. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0268258. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Cláudio Márcio de Medeiros Maia¹, Karla Suzanne Florentino da Silva Chaves Damasceno¹, Larissa Mont'Alverne Jucá Seabra¹, Gabriela Chaves², Lívia Maria da Costa Dantas³, Francisco Canindé de Sousa Júnior^{1

3}, Cristiane Fernandes de Assis^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Nutrition Postgraduate Program, Center for Health Sciences, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil.
² Myant INC, Research and Development, Toronto, Canada.
³ Department of Pharmacy, Center for Health Sciences, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil.

Abstract

Background: Parasitic contamination of vegetables is a public health problem in several countries and a challenge for food safety. With a short path from the field to the table, these foods can suffer several flaws in the good practices of production, transport and packaging which culminate in an offer of contaminated food to consumers. Therefore, this study describes a systematic review protocol with meta-analysis on evaluating the effectiveness of existing sanitation methods in removing parasites from vegetables.

Methods: The study will be conducted from published studies that report analyzes of parasites in vegetables before and after sanitization processes. The MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, FSTA, LILACS, Scopus and AGRIS electronic databases will be used. In addition, manual searches will be carried out through related articles, references to included articles and directories of theses and dissertations. The primary outcome will be the reduction or absence of parasitic forms in vegetables after the intervention or combined interventions, and the secondary outcomes will include: identification of the main parasites, assessment of the time required for processing and cost-effectiveness analysis. Two authors will independently screen the studies and extract data. Disagreements will be resolved by discussion, and a third reviewer will decide if there is no consensus. The criteria established by the Cochrane Manual (with some adaptations) will be used to assess the risk of bias in the studies and if the results are considered acceptable and sufficiently homogeneous, and a meta-analysis will be performed to synthesize the findings.

Discussion: The systematic review produced from this protocol will provide evidence on the effectiveness of sanitation protocols for removing parasitic forms in vegetables and will contribute to strengthening food safety, with the adoption of best sanitation practices and prevention of health risks. In addition, the study may highlight possible knowledge gaps that need to be filled with new research.

Systematic review registration: PROSPERO registration number: CRD42020206929.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Meta-Analysis as Topic
Parasites*
Systematic Reviews as Topic
Vegetables*

Grants and funding

Funding:This work received financial support from the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, which granted the scholarship (001). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.