Evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 causing COVID-19 in terms of Food Safety and Prevention Methods

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2, which was seen for the first time in Wuhan China in December 2019, is the causative agent of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) that caused a pandemic and resulted in the death of important numbers of people wordwide. In this study, the potential interaction of SARS-CoV-2 with food products and potential risks, the cross contamination probability, the practices that the food handlers can follow to prevent the contamination and the spread of the virus, what are the basic principles that consumers can apply for the prevention from this virus are discussed. So far, there is no data on the transmission of this virus through food products but the asemptomatic food handlers that might carry this virus can be the potential transmission route to the food chain. In order to prevent the presence and spread of this virus in food chain; food handlers should follow the basic personel hygienic rules, they should be educated routinely for the virus and potential contaminants, the hygiene practices in food production system should be carefully applied, the cross contamination risk in food products should be eliminated and for the consumers; fresh and ready-to-eat products should be stored for a period of time before the consumption. These are the main precautions to prevent the presence and spread of SARS-CoV-2 in food products and food chain. 

Keywords

• SARS-CoV-2,COVID-19,Food Contamination,Food Safety,Pandemic

Gıda Güvenliği Açısından COVID-19 Etmeni SARS-CoV-2’nin Değerlendirilmesi ve Korunma Yöntemleri

Öz

Çin’in Wuhan şehrinde 2019 yılının Aralık ayında ortaya çıkan ve koronavirüs hastalığına (COVID-19) sebep olan yeni koronavirüs (SARS-CoV-2) büyük bir küresel salgına dönüşerek dünyada pek çok kişinin ölümüne yol açmıştır. Bu virüsün gıdalar aracılığı ile bulaştığına ve gıdalar ile alındığında hastalık yaptığına dair bugüne kadar bir kanıt bulunmamakla birlikte, gıda üretim süreçlerinde yer alan ve herhangi bir belirti göstermeden bu virüsü taşıyan gıda çalışanlarınca gıdalara bulaştırılabileceği üzerinde durulmaktadır. Kişisel tedbirler gibi gıda üreticileri ve hazırlayıcılarının da ellerini düzenli yıkaması, çalışanların bilgi düzeylerinin ve farkındalıklarının sürekli arttırılması, gıda işletmelerinde hijyen-sanitasyon uygulamalarının dikkatlice uygulanması, çiğ ve pişmiş gıdaların ayrılması, özellikle taze meyve-sebze ve tüketime hazır gıdaların satın alınmalarını takiben belirli süreler bekletildikten sonra tüketilmesi gibi uygulamalar bu virüsün gıda zincirine girmesi ve buradan yayılmasını önlemek için alınması gerekli temel tedbirler olarak karşımıza çıkmaktadır. Bu çalışmada SARS-CoV-2’nin gıdalarda bulunabilirliğine dair olası riskler, gıdalara çapraz bulaşma ihtimalleri, gıda işletmelerinin SARS-CoV-2 açısından güvenli hale getirilmesi ve korunma yöntemleri, gıda tüketicisi açısından SARS-CoV-2’nin değerlendirilmesi konularına değinilmiş, SARS-CoV-2 ve muhtemel gıda etkileşimi hakkında bilgiler verilmiştir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• SARS-CoV-2,COVID-19,Gıdalara Bulaşması,Gıda Güvenliği,Pandemi

Kaynakça

1. Ahn, D.–G., Shin, H.–J., Kim, M.–H., Lee, S., Kim, H.–S., Myoung, J., Kim, B-T., & Kim, S.–J. (2020). Current Status of Epidemiology, Diagnosis, Therapeutics, and Vaccines for Novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology. 30(3), 313-324. DOI: 10.4014/jmb.2003.03011
2. Anonim. (2020a). Food safety, nutrition, and wellness during COVID-19. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/2020/03/25/food-safety-nutrition-and-wellness-during-covid-19/
3. Anonim. (2020b). Preventing the spread of COVID-19: Guidance for food establishments. https://www.doh.wa.gov/Portals/1/Documents/1600/coronavirus/FoodWorkerEstablishment.pdf
4. Ayhan, B., & Bilici, S. (2015). Toplu beslenme sistemlerinde kullanılan gıda dezenfektanları, Türk Hijyen ve Deneysel Biyoloji Dergisi. 72(4): 323-336. doi: 10.5505/TurkHijyen.2015.82542
5. Bağcı, U., Özmen Toğay, S., & Temiz, A. (2008). Çiğ Tüketilen Sebzelere Uygulanan Yüzey Dekontaminasyon Yöntemleri. Türkiye 10. Gıda Kongresi, sayfa 173-176, 21-23 Mayıs 2008, Erzurum.
6. Bidawid, S., Bosch, A., Cook, N., Greening, G., Taylor, M., & Vinje, J. (2009) Editorial. Food and Environmental Virology, 1, 1–2.
7. Bosch, A., Pinto, R. M., & Guix, S. (2016). Foodborne viruses. Current Opininon in Food Science. 8, 110-119. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cofs.2016.04.002
8. Bosch, A., Gkogka, E., Le Guyader, F. S., Loisy-Hamon, F., Lee, A., van Lieshout, L., Marthi, B., Myrmel, M., Sansom, A., Schultz, A. C., Winkler, A., Zuber, S., & Phistern, T. (2018). Foodborne viruses: Detection, risk assessment, and control options in food processing. International Journal of Food Microbiology. 285, 110–128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2018.06.001

9. Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung (BfR). (2020). Can the new type of coronavirus be transmitted via food and objects? https://www.bfr.bund.de/cm/349/can-the-new-type-of-coronavirus-be-transmitted-via-food-and-objects.pdf
10. CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). (2020a). How Coronavirus Spreads. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prepare/transmission.html
11. CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). (2020b). Water Transmission and COVID-19. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/php/water.html.
12. CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). (2020c). Food Safety and Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/newsletter/food-safety-and-Coronavirus.html
13. Chen, J. (2020). Pathogenicity and Transmissibility of 2019-nCoV—A quick overview and comparison with other emerging viruses. Microbes and Infection, https://doi.org/10.1016/ j.micinf.2020.01.004.
14. Cyranoski, D. (2020). Did pangolins spread the China coronavirus to people?. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00364-2
15. El Zowalaty, M.E., & Järhult, J.D. (2020). From SARS to COVID-19: A previously unknown SARS-CoV-2 virus of pandemic potential infecting humans – Call for a One Health approach. One Health, 100124. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.onehlt.2020.100124
16. EUFIC (The European Food Information Council). (2020). Food and coronavirus (COVID-19): what you need to know. https://www.eufic.org/tr/page/food-and-coronavirus-covid-19-what-you-need-to-know.
17. FDA (U.S. Food and Drup Administration). (2020a). Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the Food Supply Chain. https://www.fda.gov/food/food-safety-during-emergencies/food-safety-and-coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19
18. FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration). (2020b). Food Safety and the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). https://www.fda.gov/food/food-safety-during-emergencies/food-safety-and-coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19
19. FDA (U.S. Food and Drup Administration). (2020c). Guidance for food businesses on coronavirus (COVID-19). https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-for-food-businesses/guidance-for-food-businesses-on-coronavirus-covid-19
20. Hemida, M.G., & Ba Abduallah, M.M. (2020). The SARS-CoV-2 outbreak from a one health perspective. One Health, 100127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.onehlt.2020.100127
21. Jalava, K. (2020). First respiratory transmitted food borne outbreak? International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health, 226, 113490. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheh.2020.113490
22. Lai, C.-C., Liu, Y. H., Wang, C.-Y., Wang, Y.-H., Hsueh, S.-C., Yen, M.-Y., Ko, W.-C., & Hsueh, P.-R. (2020). Asymptomatic carrier state, acute respiratory disease, and pneumonia due to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV-2): Facts and myths. Journal of Microbiology, Immunology and Infection. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmii.2020.02.012
23. Lamhoujeb, S., Fliss, I., Ngazoa, S.E., & Jean, J. (2008). Evaluation of the persistence of infectious human noroviruses on food surfaces by using real-time nucleic acid sequence-based amplification. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 74, 3349–3355. doi: 10.1128/AEM.02878-07.
24. Lu, G., Wang, Q., & Gao, G. F. (2015). Bat-to-human: spike features determining “host jump” of coronaviruses SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and beyond. Trends in Microbiology, 23(8), 468–478. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tim.2015.06.003
25. Marty, A.M., & Jones, M.K. (2020). The novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a one health issue. One Health, 9, 100123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.onehlt.2020.100123
26. Ministère de l'Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l' Alimentation du Québec (MAPAQ). (2020.). Food safety. https://www.mapaq.gouv.qc.ca/SiteCollectionDocuments/Avis_publicite/English_Questions-ReponseclientelesMAPAQ.pdf
27. Petrosillo, N., Viceconte, G., Ergonul, O., Ippolito, G., Petersen, E. (2020). COVID-19, SARS and MERS: are they closely related?. Clinical Microbiology and Infection, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmi.2020.03.026
28. Rodríguez-Lázaro, D., Cook, N., Ruggeri, F. M., Sellwood, J., Nasser, A., Nascimento, M. S., D’Agostino, M., Santos, R., Saiz, J. R., Rzeżutka, A., Bosch, A., Gironés, R., Carducci, A., Muscillo, M., Kovač, K., Diez-Valcarce, M., Vantarakis, A., von Bonsdorff, C.H., de Roda Husman, A. M., Hernández, M., & van der Poel, W.H. (2012). Virus hazards from food, water and other contaminated environments. FEMS Microbiology Rewievs, 36(4), 786-814. doi: 10.1111/j.1574-6976.2011.00306.x.
29. Rzezutka, A., & Cook, N. (2004). Survival of human enteric viruses in the environment and food. FEMS Microbiology Reviews, 28, 441–453. doi: 10.1016/j.femsre.2004.02.001.
30. Shereen, M.A, Khan, S., Kazmi, A., Bashir, N., & Siddique, R. (2020). COVID-19 infection: origin, transmission, and characteristics of human coronaviruses. Journal of Advanced Research, 24, 91-98. Doi: 10.1016/j.jare.2020.03.005
31. Sun, J., He, W.-T., Wang, L., Lai, A., Ji, X., Zhai, X., Li, G., Suchard, M. A., Tian, J., Zhou, J., Veit, M., & Su, S. (2020). COVID-19: epidemiology, evolution, and cross-disciplinary perspectives. Trends in Molecular Medicine, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molmed.2020.02.008
32. ter Waarbeek, H.L., Dukers-Muijrers, N.H., Vennema, H., & Hoebe, C.J. (2010). Waterborne gastroenteritis outbreak at a scouting camp caused by two norovirus genogroups: GI and GII. Journal of Clinical Virology, 47, 268–272. doi: 10.1016/j.jcv.2009.12.002.
33. Wang, X.W., Li, J., Guo, T., Zhen, B., Kong, Q., Yi, B., Li, Z., Song, N., Jin, M., Xiao, W., Zhu, X., Gu, C., Yin, J., Wei, W., Yao, W., Liu, C., Li, J., Ou, G., Wang, M., Fang, T., Wang, G., Qiu, Y., Wu, H., Chao, F., & Li, J. (2005). Concentration and detection of SARS coronavirus in sewage from Xiao Tang Shan Hospital and the 309th Hospital. Journal of Virological Methods, 128(1-2), 156-161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jviromet.2005.03.022
34. WHO (World Health Organization). (2020). Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Report – 51. https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation reports/20200311-sitrep-51-covid-19.pdf?sfvrsn=1ba62e57_10
35. WHO (World Health Organization). (2020a). Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Report – 32. https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200221-sitrep-32-covid-19.pdf?sfvrsn=4802d089_2
36. WHO (World Health Organization) & FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) (‎2008)‎. Viruses in food : scientific advice to support risk management activities : meeting report.. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/44030
37. Wu, D., Wu, T., Liu, Q., & Yang, Z. (2020). The SARS-CoV-2 outbreak: what we know. International Journal of Infectious Diseases. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2020.03.004
38. Yepiz-Gomez, M.S., Gerba, C.P., & Bright, K.R. (2013). Survival of respiratory viruses on fresh produce. Food and Environmental Virology, 5(3), 150–156. DOI: 10.1007/s12560-013-9114-4
39. Zhang, R., Wang, X., Ni, L., Di, X., Ma, B., Niu, S., Liu, C., & Reiter, R. J. (2020). COVID-19: Melatonin as a potential adjuvant treatment. Life Sciences, 117583. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lfs.2020.117583.