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This review aims to synthesize research trends in controlling protozoan parasites in food, emphasizing methods for safety and analytics.

March 28, 2026Open Access

Current research trends towards the control of protozoans in foods

Key Points

This review aims to synthesize research trends in controlling protozoan parasites in food, emphasizing methods for safety and analytics.
Synthesis of four years of research data on protozoan control
Focus on front-end processing, quantification, and sequencing methods
Assessment of analytical strategies in various food-related matrices
Integration of quantitative PCR and metagenomics for tracking and analysis
Identified weaknesses in current detection methods related to food safety
Demonstrated the importance of processing steps in enhancing analytical reproducibility
Outlined the need for a robust framework linking water-soil-plant interfaces with analytical strategies
Highlighted the shift towards decision-making capabilities regarding protozoan viability in food control

Abstract

Protozoan parasites such as Cryptosporidium spp., Giardia duodenalis, Toxoplasma gondii and Cyclospora cayetanensis remain difficult-to-control hazards in food due to environmental persistence, low infectious doses, and the interpretability gap between nucleic acid detection and infectivity. This review synthesizes 4-year research trends shaping protozoan control in food systems, focusing on three critical pillars: matrix-adapted front-end processing (concentration, lysis, inhibitor management); inhibitor-resilient quantification; and sequencing-based attribution for outbreak investigation and source tracking. Recent benchmarking across wastewater, the water-soil-produce nexus, and food-relevant matrices repeatedly indicates - depending on matrix and study design - that upstream workflow steps often dominate analytical sensitivity and reproducibility. Accordingly, tiered analytical strategies are emerging in which the quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique supports scalable screening, droplet digital PCR is used for decision-grade confirmation/quantification under inhibition and low-template conditions, and targeted sequencing or metagenomics is deployed selectively for traceback and contextual investigation. We integrate these developments into an actionable control framework that links prevention at the water-soil-plant interface with tiered analytics and viability-aware interpretation of post-intervention results. Research priorities ahead include harmonized performance reporting (recovery, inhibition controls, limit of detection/quantification), transparent endpoint hierarchy for intervention claims (detectability versus viability/infectivity), and interoperable sequence databases to enable cross-laboratory attribution and program-level learning. The field is moving from "can we detect?" towards "can we decide? - requiring reproducible front-end processing, inhibitor-resilient quantification, interoperable attribution resources, and endpoint discipline for intervention efficacy claims.

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