What vegetables carry parasites?
Matthew Barrera
Updated on June 08, 2026
The extent of vegetable contamination was 97.2% (90.3–99.7) of spring onions, 70.8% (58.9–81.0) of lettuce and 50.0% (38.0–62.0) of tomatoes. The commonest parasites were Strongyloides stercoralis (36.4%, 31.4–41.6), Balantidium coli (13.6%, 10.2–17.6) and Cryptosporidium oocyst (11.1%, 8.1–14.8).
What fruits and vegetables have parasites?
Among vegetables, lettuce (56.4%) was the most frequently contaminated item followed by spinach (52.7%). Regarding fruits, tomato (30.9%) and green pepper (29.1%) have almost similar rates of contamination while mango (16.7%) show the least frequency of contamination (Table 1).What foods carry parasites?
What are the most common food sources of parasites?
- undercooked pork.
- other undercooked or raw meats, such as beef.
- raw fruits and vegetables.
- raw or undercooked freshwater or marine fish.
- raw or undercooked crustaceans or mollusks.
- raw aquatic plants such as watercress.
- unpasteurized cider and milk.