Review of Biological and Chemical Health Risks Associated with Pork Consumption in Vietnam: Major Pathogens and Hazards Identified in Southeast Asia

Abstract

Foodborne illness is a difficult public health burden to measure, with accurate incidence data usually evading disease surveillance systems. Yet, the global scope of foodborne disease and its impacts on socioeconomic development make it an important health risk to address, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. In Vietnam, rapid development has seen large-scale commercial operations rise to coexist amongst traditional value chains in the food landscape, most of which operates outside of a domestic food safety network. Rapid socioeconomic development has also seen an increase in meat consumption, with pork being the most consumed meat product nationally. Expanding pork value chains, and the increasing diversity of actors within them, facilitates the growth and propagation of hazards which are passed onto Vietnamese consumers. In order to guide illness prevention and governance efforts, this review was conducted to examine health risks associated with pork consumption in Vietnam. Synthesis of the available literature provided evidence that Salmonella spp. bacteria are a major cause of foodborne illness from Vietnamese pork products. However, contaminants of global concern, including Salmonella spp. and Trichinella spiralis, occur alongside those considered neglected tropical diseases, such as Taenia solium. Infections and complications associated with ingestion of Streptococcus suis bacteria are also an issue, with Streptococcus suis infections usually limited to occupational infections amongst meat handlers in modernised value chains. A risk factor underscoring transmission of Trichinella spiralis, Taenia solium, and Streptococcus suis in Vietnam that emerges from the literature is the consumption of dishes containing raw or undercooked pork. Available data indicates that infections associated with raw pork consumption disproportionately affect men and people in regional mountainous areas of northwest Vietnam, where many of Vietnam’s ethnic minority communities reside. In addition, epidemiological data from recorded disease outbreaks that result from raw pork consumption demonstrate that these outbreaks usually follow major sociocultural events such as weddings, funerals, and Lunar New Year celebrations. Potential health impacts resulting from residues of antibiotics and heavy metals are also cause for concern, though the direct links between chemical contaminants in food and the development of disease are difficult to conclusively deduce.

Critical Analysis of Pork QMRA Focusing on Slaughterhouses: Lessons from the Past and Future Trends

“…During the selection process, only articles that met potential criteria were selected. A total of 118 articles were collected after screening through the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) method in which 42 studies specifically dealt with pork QMRA [ 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 ], and 77 additional studies focused on the following specific topics ( Figure 1 ): Identification of risk factors [ 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 , ...…”

“…Identification of risk factors [ 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 , 79 , 80 , 81 , 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 , 86 , 87 , 88 , 89 , 90 , 91 ];…”

A Research on The Attitude and Purchasing Behavior of Muslim Consumers Towards Products with Halal Logo in Another Muslim Country

“…Since pigs have the fastest (4 hours) and weak digestive system, they cannot completely clean the toxins in the food they eat. The meat of pigs that store these toxins in their cells is extremely unhealthy (Cook and Phuc, 2019). However, halal animals such as cattle, lamb, buffalo and camel are vegetarians because they feed themselves with fresh and clean food.…”

Foodborne Botulism in Western Romania: Ten Years’ Experience at a Tertiary Infectious Disease Hospital

“…Home handling of traditional pork products without insufficient sanitary knowledge subjects consumers to several hazards, depending on cooking style and community influences. As in other parts of the world [ 20 ], the most common infection hazard is Salmonella spp . and Trichinella spiralis infection.…”