The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has released guidance on killing tapeworms and their eggs within meat.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Its BIOHAZ panel says freezing pig, wild boar or cattle carcasses at -10°C or lower for ten days or longer kills these ‘cysticerci’. This “provides a basis for the prevention and control of human taeniosis” caused by tapeworms taenia solium, saginata and saginata asiatica.
Meanwhile, the panel has called for the speedy official validation of new diagnostic meat tests detecting the pathogen Taenia saginata cysticercosis. This is often missed by standard meat inspections, where existing incision tests can cause cross-contamination. Blood sample analyses awaiting EU approval “appear particularly promising”.
