The people regard food as their heaven, and they are afraid that the disease will be imported from the mouth... If food is involved in the epidemic, will there be "material transmission"?
Reporter: Li Chun
For the Chinese people whose food is their first priority, the Shandong-related milk jujube incident has recently aroused continuous social concern.
Relevant experts stated during the interview that the external defense input is not only "persons" but also "things."
It is necessary to strictly carry out the quarantine and disinfection of imported items, especially food, to prevent diseases from entering through the mouth.
First focus on the incident itself.
On January 18, the Shandong Provincial Market Supervision Bureau received a notification from the Tianjin Municipal Market Supervision Commission on the positive test of imported whey powder, stating that 10 tons of whey powder were sold to Shandong Jiuxu Biotechnology Co., Ltd.
On the evening of the 31st, the Zaozhuang City Epidemic Prevention and Control Headquarters in Shandong Province notified that the company’s related milk date products and environmental samples tested positive for nucleic acid, and some of the milk date products involved in the epidemic had already entered the market.
In addition to Zaozhuang, other cities in Shandong Province, including Jinan, Yantai, Heze, Binzhou, and Dezhou, have issued information on the disposal or notification of the milk dates involved in the epidemic.
Except for a few samples of products involved in the epidemic, which showed positive results, the other products, related contacts and the external environment were all negative.
People in close contact are also subject to home isolation and observation.
Up to now, more than 20 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities including Beijing, Tianjin, Shaanxi, Zhejiang, Anhui, Guizhou, Henan, Heilongjiang, Sichuan, etc., have tested positive for the new coronavirus nucleic acid in milk jujube samples.
According to a press conference held by the Information Office of the Shandong Provincial Government on February 1, the Provincial Market Supervision Bureau recently issued notification letters to 24 other provincial market supervision departments.
According to the feedback from the return visit, the nucleic acid tests of all personnel involved in the inflow of this batch of products are negative.
As the saying goes, "Illness comes from the mouth."
Regarding the milk date incident involving the epidemic, one of the core concerns is whether the food involved in the epidemic will cause human infection?
In this regard, Lei Jie, the chief expert in the field of emergency public health incidents of the Shandong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that the expert group concluded that the result of this nucleic acid test was that this batch of whey powder raw materials was positive. The new coronavirus carried by the infected milk date is likely to be a nucleic acid fragment or a dead virus. There is almost no live virus, and the possibility of infecting humans is extremely low.
It is known that a positive nucleic acid can only indicate that the gene fragment of the new coronavirus has been detected, and it is not enough to determine whether there is an active and infectious intact virus or a fragmented, inactive viral nucleic acid fragment.
Feng Zijian, deputy director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, also emphasized in an earlier interview with the media that a positive nucleic acid does not necessarily mean that it is contagious. It also depends on the amount of virus contamination and whether the contaminated virus is active.
"So far, there have been no case reports of consumers contracting the new crown virus through purchasing and processing food." At the State Council Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism press conference on January 31, Li Ning, deputy director of the National Food Safety Risk Assessment Center, said , Observing the new coronavirus nucleic acid tests on food, especially imported food and its outer packaging, across the country, the positive detection rate is less than one in 10,000, and the positive detection rate is mainly concentrated on the outer packaging of food.
The overall pollution level is also low, "because the new coronavirus will not multiply on the surface of food."
Information from various parties shows that this batch of milk dates involved in the epidemic does not seem to cause "the disease to be imported from the mouth", but the related doubts do not end there.
Frozen shrimp, frozen meat, ice cream, chicken wings, cherries... At present, the inner and outer packaging of a variety of cold chain foods have been tested positive for nucleic acid.
But unlike the past, the whey powder and milk dates involved in the epidemic this time are not cold-chain foods, and the location of the positive nucleic acid detection is in the food itself.
Data map: A nucleic acid test report put together with cherries in a fruit shop.
Sun Quanshe
Another concern follows: Will there be more and more items and even food that may cause "inheritance"?
"In these months, for example, the period before June, it may be the most important." Fu Hua, a professor at the School of Public Health of Fudan University, believes that as the number of vaccinations increases and the weather gradually warms, foreign populations are particularly After the infection rate of people engaged in food processing decreases, the possible "material-to-person transmission", especially "food-to-person transmission", will be improved.
"With regard to the issue of food imports, the country has to strictly control it during this time." Fu Hua told a reporter from Chinanews.com.
According to the Shandong Provincial Government Information Office's introduction on February 1, the milk dates produced using this batch of raw materials have sold more than 22 tons.
Among them, offline sales of 17.72 tons involve 9 dealers in 5 cities in Shandong, Jiangsu, and Anhui provinces; although only 4.5 tons of products sold through the online platform, a total of 13,944 orders, it involves 25 provinces, regions and cities Of 321 cities and counties.
The new crown pneumonia epidemic has objectively promoted the development of online shopping and e-commerce.
During the upcoming Spring Festival, "Chinese New Year in situ" may also increase people's demand for online shopping.
Against this background, it has to be said that the milk jujube incident has sounded a wake-up call for the implementation of online shopping epidemic prevention and control measures.
In fact, many places in China have recently issued reminders, urging people to avoid or reduce online shopping and purchase cold chain food as much as possible.
The Guizhou Provincial Health Commission reminded the public not to buy imported goods and foods from unknown sources, and not to buy goods online or overseas from areas with high risks.
Beijing requires strict prevention and control of logistics links.
After imported goods enter the country, they must not overlap with other goods and implement closed-loop management.
For the collection, sorting, and delivery of imported goods, automatic contactless operation is promoted.
It is also necessary to strengthen the personal protection of relevant logistics personnel and the disinfection of transportation vehicles.
At the press conference on the 31st, Li Ning also reminded that when shopping online for food, you should pay special attention to the purchase of formal and reputable online platforms.
If you are buying imported food, you can use 75% alcohol on the outer packaging for preventive disinfection when you collect the express.
In the process of handling food and outer packaging, maintain good hand hygiene and do not touch the mouth, eyes, and nose with dirty hands.
"Foreign defense import includes many aspects, not only people, but also logistics issues." Fu Hua pointed out that the national and local levels must strictly do the quarantine and disinfection of imported items, especially food.
After food and raw materials enter the country, manufacturers must do a good job of testing to ensure that they are safe before they can be used in food processing.
"Enterprises must take up corporate responsibilities, and the state must strengthen management and control in this regard."