Real-life food-safety behavior and incidence of foodborne infections in solid organ transplant recipients

Food-safety measures are recommended in solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients. However, the actual adherence of patients in a real-life setting and the impact on the incidence of foodborne infections remain largely unexplored. We performed a survey among SOT recipients followed at our institution, aiming to evaluate their food-safety behavior. We assessed the incidence of microbiologically proven foodborne infections by chart review. One hundred ninety-seven SOT recipients (kidney = 117, lung = 35, liver = 29, and heart = 16) participated in the survey. Overall, 17.7% of the participants observed all food-safety recommendations (22.0% avoided food at risk of contamination while 67.9% applied hygiene recommendations). Patients within the first year after transplantation (odds ratio [OR] 5.42; P = .001) and females (OR 4.67; P = .001) followed food-safety recommendations more closely. Although the majority of SOT recipients felt concerned and actively sought information on food safety (68%-70%), only 27% were able to recognize all risks of foodborne infection in hypothetical scenarios. Incidence of proven foodborne infections was 17.9% (95% confidence interval 9.9%-30.9%) 5 years after transplantation. Importantly, foodborne infections occurred exclusively among patients not following food-safety recommendations. In summary, most SOT recipients eat foods that make them at risk of foodborne infections. Our results indicate that there is room for improvement in patient education, particularly later after transplantation, and reinforce current food-safety recommendations.