Parasitic worms in anchovies and sardines from the Ligurian Sea
What it found
Parasitic worm larvae were found in less than 1% of anchovies and in none of the sardines caught off northwest Italy.
All larvae were in the guts, not the flesh people eat.
What they found
Animal and lab studies
Worm species identified
DNA tests showed all eight larvae belonged to one species called Anisakis pegreffii.
Other findings
Worms in anchovies
Eight worm larvae were found across all 1050 anchovies, meaning less than 1% carried them. Each infected fish had only one larva, and the highest rate was 1.3% in September.
No worms in sardines
None of the 750 sardines examined contained any worm larvae at all.
Worms stayed in guts
Every larva was found inside the belly organs of the fish. None had moved into the muscle tissue that people eat, likely because the fish reached the lab within hours of being caught.
What the authors conclude
- They say the chance of getting a parasitic worm infection from eating raw or pickled anchovies and sardines from this fishing area is very low.
- The authors note that the worms stayed in the gut organs rather than moving into the flesh people eat.
How it was done
Eating raw or lightly pickled anchovies and sardines can pass a parasitic worm infection to people. The authors wanted to measure how common these worms are in fish from one Italian fishing area.
They examined 1050 anchovies and 750 sardines caught between April and November 2012 off Monterosso, Italy. They flattened the fish parts and looked for worm larvae under a microscope, then used DNA tests to identify any they found.
What it can’t tell you
- This work looked at fish from one specific stretch of coast in Italy, so it cannot show what shoppers might find in fish caught elsewhere.
- Checking fish in a lab does not measure how many people actually get sick from eating them.
Who paid
- Authors work at
- Marine Microbiology Laboratory, Italy; University of Pisa, Italy; Laboratorio di Ittiopatologia, Italy
The paper
- Title
- Food safety considerations in relation to Anisakis pegreffii in anchovies (Engraulis encrasicolus) and sardines (Sardina pilchardus) fished off the Ligurian Coast (Cinque Terre National Park, NW Mediterranean)
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Animals and lab studies
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Serracca L, Battistini R, Rossini I, et al (2014). Food safety considerations in relation to Anisakis pegreffii in anchovies (Engraulis encrasicolus) and sardines (Sardina pilchardus) fished off the Ligurian Coast (Cinque Terre National Park, NW Mediterranean). International journal of food microbiology. doi:10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2014.08.025Free full textPubMed 25203618DOI
Summary written 30 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error