Frozen food carries virus again! Can we eat fish and shrimp during the Spring Festival?

Spring Festival is approaching, I believe many people have begun to prepare for the Spring Festival goods.
When it comes to Spring Festival goods, meat is a must.

However, since the outbreak, many Novel Coronavirus detection products and environmental cold-chain-related news have been reported.

So, here’s the problem.
All meat products are inextricably linked to the cold chain, and “cold chain logistics” has been pushed to the forefront again and again.

Therefore, preventing the spread of novel coronavirus in the cold chain is the top priority, and how to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus in the cold chain is also a hot topic.

Is it important to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus in the cold chain?

Zhu Yi, an associate professor at the College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering of China Agricultural University, said that the contamination of novel coronavirus has nothing to do with whether the product is fish, shrimp, chicken wings or its packaging. The key is the cold chain environment. Under the low temperature condition of -18℃ throughout the whole process, the virus that hates heat and likes cold is more suitable for survival.

Li Lanjuan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, has also popularized the living environment of viruses. She pointed out that “under normal circumstances, viruses can survive for a long time in the cold chain.
Among the viruses we know and master, the general virus can survive for 3-6 months at about 4℃, and in the environment below minus 20℃, can survive for about 20 years.
Of course, different viruses live for different periods of time.

Cold chain food is closely related to people’s life, and viruses are more likely to survive in cold chain conditions.
Therefore, the importance of preventing the spread of novel coronavirus in the cold chain is beyond doubt.

Where does the novel coronavirus in the cold chain come from?

On January 8, 2021, Shi Zhengli and Zhou Peng, researchers from Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, published an article titled “Novel Coronavirus Cross-population Transmission” in Science.
The direct source of the Covid-19 pathogen has not yet been determined worldwide.

This more than a year, the novel coronavirus was detected on the reported cold chain product, most is on the outer package of imported frozen fresh, among them “in the gun” most is aquatic product, be like South American white prawn.

But there is no clear conclusion as to where the viruses in these packages came from.
It is only judged that droplets may be contaminated with infected persons, that is to say, it may be human-to-human transmission.

If the outbreak is not over in the producing country, especially the place of production, the risk of cold chain workers being infected is high and the risk of food surfaces being contaminated by workers is high.

Food production and processing is a labor-intensive industry, especially when it comes to cold chain packaging and transportation, and not all the work can be done by machines.
At present, in many areas of foreign countries without basic control of the epidemic situation, if the source of contamination is not cut off, will continue to detect the positive virus in frozen food and packaging.

So, can you still buy cold chain food on the market?
What sources of food are safe to buy?
And then we go down.

Can you still buy cold chain food?

Of the more than 80 million confirmed cases globally, no infections caused by eating frozen food have been found so far, according to the “Food Safety and Health Rumors 2020 List” jointly released by the platform of the China Association for Science and Technology and the Chinese Society for Food Science and Technology.

That is to say, normal frozen food purchased from regular channels is edible.

Since the epidemic, the state has successively issued two legal standards to improve the management of “cold chain logistics” to a new level.
The positive detection of imported products and packaging also shows that China’s epidemic prevention and control measures are very strict and in place.

But not all of the novel coronavirus outbreaks have been linked to imported food.
The Hebei outbreak, for example, does not mention any link to imported food in any official reports.

On December 21, 2020, the Tariff Commission of the State Council issued the Notice of the Tariff Commission of the State Council on the Tariff Adjustment Plan in 2021.
Among the names of goods that have lowered tariffs, meat and seafood products are included, which fully shows that the vast majority of imported food is fine!

What else should we pay attention to in cold chain epidemic prevention?

Government regulation

There are requirements on the epidemic prevention guide of cold chain logistics: highway, waterway imported cold chain food logistics prevention and control should put the four “close”, namely: personnel close, tool close, information close and disposal close.

To effectively protect the health and safety of staff;
To participate in the cold chain process of all vehicles, containers, tools to carry out professional and thorough disinfection, cut off the source of virus transmission;
We should strictly implement the information registration system and strictly prohibit the transportation and sale of cold chain food from unknown sources.
We need to respond to emergencies and cut off transmission routes of the virus.

Consumer side

One is to do a good job in the purchase of protection, pay attention to wash hands, more disinfection;

Two is not to buy the source of unknown products;

Three is to pay attention to the key link in cooking health, need to cook all the ingredients.

Do the above points well, I believe that everyone can enjoy the food, in this unusual period, a warm, beautiful Spring Festival!