Paparella Antonello, Purgatorio Chiara, Chaves-López Clemencia, Rossi Chiara, Serio Annalisa
Faculty of Bioscience and Technology for Food, Agriculture and Environment, University of Teramo, 64100 Teramo, Italy.
Foods. 2022 Sep 13;11(18):2816. doi: 10.3390/foods11182816.
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is being questioned for its possible food transmission, due to several reports of the virus on food, outbreaks developed in food companies, as well as its origins linked to the wet market of Wuhan, China. The purpose of this review is to analyze the scientific evidence gathered so far on the relationship between food and the pandemic, considering all aspects of the food system that can be involved. The collected data indicate that there is no evidence that foods represent a risk for the transmission of SARS-CoV-2. In fact, even if the virus can persist on food surfaces, there are currently no proven cases of infection from food. Moreover, the pandemic showed to have deeply influenced the eating habits of consumers and their purchasing methods, but also to have enhanced food waste and poverty. Another important finding is the role of meat processing plants as suitable environments for the onset of outbreaks. Lessons learned from the pandemic include the correct management of spaces, food hygiene education for both food workers and common people, the enhancement of alternative commercial channels, the reorganization of food activities, in particular wet markets, and intensive farming, following correct hygiene practices. All these outcomes lead to another crucial lesson, which is the importance of the resilience of the food system. These lessons should be assimilated to deal with the present pandemic and possible future emergencies. Future research directions include further investigation of the factors linked to the food system that can favor the emergence of viruses, and of innovative technologies that can reduce viral transmission.
由于有几份关于食品上存在该病毒的报告、食品公司爆发疫情以及其起源与中国武汉的湿货市场有关，新冠疫情的食物传播可能性受到质疑。本综述的目的是分析目前收集到的关于食品与疫情之间关系的科学证据，考虑食品系统中可能涉及的各个方面。收集到的数据表明，没有证据表明食品会造成新冠病毒传播风险。事实上，即使病毒能够在食品表面存活，目前也没有经证实的因食品感染的病例。此外，疫情显示出对消费者的饮食习惯及其购买方式产生了深远影响，同时还加剧了食物浪费和贫困现象。另一个重要发现是肉类加工厂是疫情爆发的适宜环境。从疫情中吸取的教训包括正确管理空间、对食品从业人员和普通民众进行食品卫生教育、加强替代商业渠道、重新组织食品活动，特别是湿货市场和集约化养殖，并遵循正确的卫生规范。所有这些成果引出了另一个关键教训，即食品系统韧性的重要性。这些教训应被吸收，以应对当前的疫情及未来可能出现的紧急情况。未来的研究方向包括进一步调查与食品系统相关的、可能助长病毒出现的因素，以及能够减少病毒传播的创新技术。
