A global systematic review and meta‐analysis of virus prevalence in vegetables and fruits: meta‐regression approaches of climatology and food security index effects

Abstract This systematic review and meta‐analysis was conducted to investigate the spread of viral contamination (hepatitis A, human norovirus, astrovirus and adenovirus) in vegetables and fruits. The most frequent types of vegetables involved were chicory (73%), silver beet (50%), watercress (34%), leek (30%) and purslane (21%). Vegetables exhibited a higher pooled prevalence of viral contamination (2%; 95% confidence interval = 1–3%) than fruits (no prevalence was observed). High levels of virus prevalence in vegetables were recorded in Argentina (35%), Egypt (23%) and Belgium (23%), whereas, for fruits, the most contaminated products were related to products from Egypt (20%). The most common viral contaminations in products were human astrovirus (29%) and human adenovirus (26%) for vegetables and porcine adenovirus (2%) for fruits. Fresh vegetables (2%) and frozen fruits (4%) had higher reports of viral prevalence than frozen vegetables and fresh fruits. In addition, frozen vegetables and fresh fruits were not reported for viral contamination. Our findings showed that the prevalence of virus prevalence has a direct relationship with climatological parameters, and regardless of Egypt (total 25.52% contamination), areas with humidity above the range of 65–70%, average temperature of 10–15 °C and annual rainfall of approximately 1000 mm, the prevalence showed higher viral contamination ( P < 0.05). Moreover, the results show that countries with a low Global Food Security Index had high infection rates ( P < 0.05). Governments should ensure that, through risk management protocols, the possibility of zoonotic infection transmission in fruits and vegetables is continuously monitored and controlled to reduce the risk of contamination. © 2025 Society of Chemical Industry.