Contamination of Fresh Produce with Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria and Associated Risks to Human Health: A Scoping Review
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Alam, Mahbub-Ul
Luies, Sharmin Khan
Kamal, Abul
Ferdous, Sharika
Lin, Audrie
Sharior, Fazle
Khan, Rizwana
Rahman, Ziaur
Parvez, Sarker Masud
Amin, Nuhu
Hasan, Rezaul
Tadesse, Birkneh Tilahun
Taneja, Neelam
Islam, Mohammad Aminul
et al.
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Fresh produce, when consumed raw, can be a source of exposure to antimicrobial residues, antimicrobial-resistant bacteria (ARB) and antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) of clinical importance. This review aims to determine: (1) the presence and abundance of antimicrobial residues, ARB and ARGs in fresh agricultural products sold in retail markets and consumed raw; (2) associated health risks in humans; and (3) pathways through which fresh produce becomes contaminated with ARB/ARGs. We searched the Ovid Medline, Web of Science and Hinari databases as well as grey literature, and identified 40 articles for inclusion. All studies investigated the occurrence of multidrug-resistant bacteria, and ten studies focused on ARGs in fresh produce, while none investigated antimicrobial residues. The most commonly observed ARB were E. coli (42.5%) followed by Klebsiella spp. (22.5%), and Salmonella spp. (20%), mainly detected on lettuce. Twenty-five articles mentioned health risks from consuming fresh produce but none quantified the risk. About half of the articles stated produce contamination occurred during pre- and post-harvest processes. Our review indicates that good agricultural and manufacturing practices, behavioural change communication and awareness-raising programs are required for all stakeholders along the food production and consumption supply chain to prevent ARB/ARG exposure through produce.
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International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
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19
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1
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© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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Rahman, M; Alam, M-U; Luies, SK; Kamal, A; Ferdous, S; Lin, A; Sharior, F; Khan, R; Rahman, Z; Parvez, SM; Amin, N; Hasan, R; Tadesse, BT; Taneja, N; Islam, MA; Ercumen, A, Contamination of Fresh Produce with Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria and Associated Risks to Human Health: A Scoping Review, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2022, 19 (1), pp. 360