Wang Lixiang: Building a healthy diet chain to prevent diseases from entering the body through the mouth

The third week of May every year is "National Nutrition Week". In response to the 2022 National Nutrition Week slogan of "Healthy China, Nutrition First", we will create a healthy diet chain of "three meals" of meals, tableware, and diners, and prevent and control the "three preventions" of food contamination, tableware pollution, and diner infection. It is an important part of the new food trends in table culture under the new crown epidemic, and is of great significance to promoting the rich and colorful Chinese food culture.

First link: prevention and control of food contamination with pathogens

1. Prevent and control contamination of wild food

Food ingredients taken from nature are gifts from nature. But while nature nurtures humans, it also nurtures parasites, bacteria, viruses and other pathogens. In terms of food safety, it is particularly important to control pathogen contamination from the source, especially when eating together, there are many types of food and a wide range of links involved, which easily give pathogens an opportunity to take advantage. Wild animals and plants are prone to carrying unknown pathogens and toxins, which can cause poisoning, spread diseases, endanger the survival of wild animals and plants, and even lead to the risk of their extinction. Refusing to eat wild animals and plants can avoid pathogens from the source.

2. Prevent and control contamination of agricultural and animal husbandry food

With the advancement of greenhouse cultivation and food storage technology, we can eat fresh meals on our tables every day, but we still cannot ignore the possibility of these ingredients being contaminated with pathogens. Rice, wheat, and corn, the main sources of our staple food, have huge demand. They are prone to deterioration and mold during storage and transportation, and breed carcinogenic bacteria such as Aspergillus. Vegetables, fruits, etc. can be directly from farmland to table, which greatly improves and enriches our daily life. However, fruits and vegetables are prone to carry parasites, residual pesticides and other harmful substances, which will invade the human body if not handled properly.

3. Prevention and control of contamination of processed food

Food processing is the last step before food reaches the table, and it is also an important step to prevent food germs from invading the human body. Different food ingredients have different processing methods, and the seasonings and ingredients involved, such as "oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, and tea", are also numerous and complex. We must carefully handle each link to prevent processed food from being contaminated with germs.

Second link: prevent tableware from being contaminated by germs

1. Prevent common tableware from breeding contamination

When food goes from the pot to the mouth, it is inseparable from tableware. This process makes it easy for germs to mix in and then invade the human body, especially when eating together, the tableware is used in large quantities and spreads over a wide range, which easily gives germs an opportunity to take advantage. In daily life, most tableware needs to be reused, especially when eating together at home. Most Chinese families have unified bowls, plates and chopsticks, and do not have the conditions for disinfection, so you need to pay attention to the cleaning. While thoroughly cleaning the tableware, it should be dried in time to prevent the growth of germs. Families with conditions can use a disinfection cabinet to sterilize with ultraviolet rays or high temperature, and implement the principle of "one cleaning", "two drying", and "three disinfection".

2. Prevent metal tableware from being recycled and polluted

The use of stainless steel tableware needs to prevent the production of germs and toxins. Stainless steel is used to make kitchen utensils because of its good metal properties and corrosion resistance compared to other metals, and has gradually entered the majority of households. Stainless steel tableware is made of iron-chromium alloy and mixed with some other trace elements. Improper use will cause trace metal elements to slowly accumulate in the human body. When reaching a certain limit, it will endanger human health. When using, it is necessary to pay attention not to store salt, soy sauce, vegetable soup, etc. for a long time. If they are stored for a long time, toxic metal elements will be dissolved; stainless steel utensils cannot be used to decoct Chinese medicine, because Chinese medicine contains many alkaloids, organic acids and other ingredients. Especially under heating conditions, it is difficult to avoid chemical reactions with them, which will make the medicine ineffective and even generate some more toxic compounds; do not use strong alkaline or strong oxidizing chemicals such as soda, bleaching powder, sodium hypochlorite, etc. for washing, which will also react chemically with stainless steel.

Three ways to prevent secondary pollution from plastic tableware

Disposable plastic sterilized tableware is now mostly used. These tableware needs to be strictly monitored during the disinfection, storage and transportation process to prevent contamination of germs. In the special period of preventing the new crown pneumonia epidemic, in order to prevent crowds from gathering, disposable plastic tableware is used in collective catering and take-out restaurants, which means that a large number of disposable tableware are needed, so the production, transportation, storage and use process need to be closely monitored to prevent germ contamination. Attention should also be paid to the handling of used disposable tableware. Do not litter to pollute the environment, and do not reuse to avoid producing toxins and breeding germs.

The third ring: defense against infectious bacteria from diners

One defense against diners infecting each other

Table culture has always been one of China's traditional cultures. However, the communal dining system means that many familiar or unfamiliar people eat at the same table, which increases the frequency of contact between people and makes it easier for germs to take advantage. When dining together, diners may become spreaders of germs. Helicobacter pylori, hepatitis A and other germs may be spread through dining together.

2. Prevent diners from spreading the virus

Due to the dining habit of "same table, same bowls and plates, same chopsticks and spoons", it is easy for diners to infect each other. Therefore, the separate dining system has become a feasible way to prevent diners from contracting infectious bacteria. Separate dining is to distribute one or several dishes to the diners' own tableware for individual consumption, avoiding the interaction of chopsticks, spoons and other tableware. There are records of separate dining in my country as early as the Shang and Zhou dynasties. But its most notable feature is the display of hierarchical status, which is a kind of etiquette. "Zhou Li" records: "The method of setting up a banquet is that the first one to be set up is called a banquet, and the one added later is called a banquet. The banquet is long and the banquet is short. The banquet is spread below and the banquet is on top, where people sit." This is the standard for banquets.

3. Prevent diners from infecting each other

When diners know that they have a contagious disease, they should strictly avoid dining with others to prevent diners from infecting each other and spreading the disease to a wider area of ​​society. Therefore, diners should pay attention to their own health assessment status when eating to ensure the health and safety of themselves and others; they should learn from the lessons of infection caused by dining together during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the face of the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, a deep understanding of the hidden dangers in healthy eating has brought an opportunity to promote the separate dining system and improve the "civilization on the tip of the tongue". The "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2016)" clearly proposed the separate dining system, and the Healthy China Action once again emphasized the adoption of separate dining in collective dining, which has far-reaching significance for reasonable diet, balanced nutrition, food intake control and prevention of disease transmission. The changes in dietary customs show a trend of "separation must be united after a long period of separation, and unity must be separated after a long period of unity": from the early days of human society, the eating method based on picking led to the separate dining system of humans; with the improvement of living standards and the abundance of food, people gathered together to share food, forming a shared dining system; now, facing the continuous emergence of public health problems and disease risks, the separate dining system needs to come out again, forge a healthy diet chain, and it is time to prevent diseases from entering the body through the mouth.

References:

[1] Wang Lixiang, Meng Xianli, Su Jing. Expert consensus guideline for precision health communication in China [J]. Chinese Research Hospital, 2018, 5(4): 39-42. DOI: 10.19450/j.cnki.jcrh. 2018.04.009.

[2] Wang Lixiang, Wang Guiqiang. "Chinese Expert Consensus on Precision Health Communication" - Citizen Health Guidelines for the Prevention and Control of Novel Coronavirus Disease (Part 2) [J]. Chinese Research Hospital, 2020, 7(3): 69-75. DOI: 10.19450/j.cnki.jcrh.2020.03.019

[3] Chinese Society of Research Hospitals Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Committee. Expert consensus on cardiopulmonary resuscitation for patients with cardiac arrest associated with COVID-19 [J]. Journal of PLA Medicine, 2020, 45 (4): 345-359. DOI: 10.11855/j.issn.0577-7402.2020.04.02.

[4] Wang Lixiang, Liu Zhongmin. Thoughts on the construction of life and health culture system in my country[J]. Journal of Difficult Diseases, 2021, DOI:10.3969/j.issn.1671-6450.2021.10.001

[5] Wang Lixiang, Liu Zhongmin. Overview of cardiopulmonary resuscitation construction in China [J]. Chin Crit Care Med, Vol. 33, No. 9, September 2021.

Author: Wang Lixiang, a national health science popularization expert, chief expert of the army's "12th Five-Year Plan" key cardiopulmonary resuscitation project, chief expert of the 5G+ sudden cardiac death prevention and rescue system construction pilot project of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the National Health Commission, and the leading expert of the China Association for Science and Technology's 5G+ three early full-cycle health management system. He is also the chairman of the 10th Science Popularization Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, chairman of the Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Professional Committee of the Chinese Society of Research Hospitals, chairman of the Health Culture Committee of the Chinese Health Management Association, etc. He is the former director of the Emergency Department, professor, and doctoral supervisor of the Third Medical Center of the General Hospital of the People's Liberation Army.