Volume 9 March 2020 Journal of Food Bioactives An Official Scientific Publication of the International Society for Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods (ISNFF) Editor-in-Chief Fereidoon Shahidi Co-Editor-in-Chief (Honorary) Beiwei Zhu ISNFF & ASSOCIATES Publishing Company, Inc. Journal of Food Bioactives Bring together the results of fundamental and applied research on food bioactives, functional food ingredients, nutraceuticals and natu- ral health products that are known to possess or perceived to have health-promoting properties www.isnff-jfb.com Editorial Board Editor-in-Chief Colin Barrow (Australia) Min-Hsiung Pan (Taiwan) Adriano Costa de Camargo (Chile) Ronald B. Pegg (USA) Fereidoon Shahidi (Canada) Rong Cao (Tsao) (Canada) Kenji Sato (Japan) Richard FitzGerald (Ireland) Angela Shaw (USA) Co-editor-in-Chief (Honorary) Bruce Hamaker (USA) Young-Joon Surh (South Korea) Chi-Tang Ho (USA) Francisco Tomas-Barberan (Spain) Beiwei Zhu (China) Farah Hosseinian (Canada) Petras R. Venskutonis (Lithuania) Charles C. Hu (USA) Chin-Kun Wang (Taiwan) Editorial Board Members Amin Ismail (Malaysia) Dao-Ying Wang (China) You-Jin Jeon (South Korea) Mingfu Wang (Hong Kong) Cesarettin Alasalvar (Turkey) Bo Jiang (China) Yu Wang (USA) Rotimi Aluko (Canada) Hitomi Kumagai (Japan) Hanny C. Wijaya (Indonesia) Emilio Alvarez (Mexico) Shiming Li (USA) Hang Xiao (USA) Ryszard Amarowicz (Poland) Jack Losso (USA) Wallace Yokoyama (USA) Anna Arnoldi (Italy) Kazuo Miyashita (Japan) Hui Zhao (China) Joseph Banoub (Canada) Ganiyu Oboh (Nigeria) Da-Yong Zhou (China) Instructions for Authors Journal of Food Bioactives with open access option is an official scientific publication of the International Society for Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals (ISNFF), a not-for-profit Disciplinary Interest Group of the International Union of Food Science and Technology (IUFoST) that was founded in 2007. It publishes original research articles, short communications/research notes, opinion pieces and review articles. ISSN 2637-8752 Print ISSN 2637-8779 Online ISNFF & ASSOCIATES Publishing Company, Inc. Connecticut, USA Journal of International Society for Food Bioactives Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods Meeting Report J. Food Bioact. 2020;9:1–3 Does COVID-19 affect food safety and security? A summary report on the Extraordinary Scientific Roundtable of IUFoST-CIFST on March 21, 2020 Abstract The goal of this contribution is to provide a summary report on the Extraordinary Scientific Roundtable on -COV ID-19 and Food Safety co-organized by the International Union of Food Science and Technology (IUFoST) and the Chinese Institute of Food Science and Technology (CIFST). The meeting provided a valuable recount of this corona- virus, particularly that the virus is not transmitted by food. On this basis, so far there is no evidence that COVID-19 has any effect on food safety and security as well as on food bioactives. The challenges faced by the food industry during the pandemic period as well as potential post-pandemic time opportunities were discussed. This brief write-up takes advantage of a recent Extraordinary Sci- diseases was emphasized by WHO beginning with the One Health entific Roundtable held on March 21, 2020 under the auspices of initiative, although most of these diseases are not prioritized by the International Union of Food Science and Technology (IUFoST), health systems internationally or by most countries. The experi- which is the global scientific organization representing national ence of China to bring the COVID-19 a successful level of control societies and institutes from many countries with membership provides a message of hope for the rest of the world, showing that of food scientists, technologists and engineers. The roundtable, this outbreak can be brought under control even though the eco- which was convened in cooperation with the Chinese Institute of nomic and social costs are high. Several other countries, notably Food Science and Technology (CIFST) included a number of sci- South Korea and Singapore, have also shown that it can be con- entists from international and national emergency response teams trolled if the right strategies are devised. as well as a representative of the food industry. The meeting was It is important to note that there have been no reports of trans- chaired by Dr. Fereidoon Shahidi who is the Chair of the Scientific mission of COVID-19 through food. Therefore, based on current Council of IUFoST and co-chaired by Dr. Junshi Chen, Chief Ad- epidemiological support, this virus is not foodborne. It was noted viser, China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment and that the United States Centre for Disease Control and European Dr. Pingfan Rao, IUFoST Past President and Professor and found- Centre for Disease Control have stated that there is also no evi- ing Director of CAS.SIBS-Zhejiang Gongshang University Joint dence that food items imported from China, in accordance with Center for Food and Nutrition Research in Hangzhou, China. The related regulations, will pose any risk of spreading COVID-19 in panel members were Dr. Peter Ben Embarek, Unit Head, Monitor- their countries. In addition, it was emphasized that since, in gener- ing of Nutrition and Food Safety Events, International Food Safety al, no viable viruses survive heat treatment, all cooked food should Authorities Network (INFOSAN), World Health Organization be safe to eat. However, it is most important to refrain from con- (WHO), Dr. Ding Gangqiang, Vice President of CIFST and Direc- suming raw or undercooked animal products. tor of Nutrition and Health Department within the China Centers The WHO has also stated that the COVID-19 virus is trans- of Disease Control, who was deployed in Wuhan, Dr. Patrick Wall, mitted through droplets, or small bits of liquid, primarily through member of the Ireland COVID-19 National Emergency Response sneezing and coughing that produce 3,000–10,000 droplets that and Professor of Public Health at University College, Dublin, Dr. cause “droplet spread”. This conclusion has been supported by Luo Yunbo, Honorary Vice President of CIFST and Director of the other food safety and health authorities. The possible presence Research Centre for Special Food, China Agricultural University, of the virus on food packaging material, as such, is not currently and Ms. Liz Duffy, Vice President for Omnichannel Compliance considered to be causing infection. It might, however, be a func- for Walmart Global eCommerce. tion of the pore size of the material, which has not yet been fully The WHO has stated that COVID-19 appeared to be a zoonotic evaluated (this is a personal opinion of the author and not ex- virus originating in bats but is likely to have gone through an in- pressed by members of the panel). The panel members stated that termediate species to infect humans. Zoonotic diseases are infec- the effective methodology used in Wuhan to control the disease tious ailments caused by bacteria, viruses and parasites transmitted should be employed as much as possible, namely, to identify, directly from animals to humans. Some 75% of emerging infec- admit and isolate confirmed COVID-19 cases and to follow up tious agents are zoonotic. The importance of controlling zoonotic with all their known contacts. In such cases, it is necessary to Copyright: © 2020 International Society for Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods. 1 All rights reserved. Does COVID-19 affect food safety and security? Shahidi have adequate capacity to isolate and treat severe cases. Here, it is consumers will solely or primarily shop online and may spend a again the personal view of the author that, in the case of the fight significant amount of time online. They are getting inundated with against this virus, personal freedoms must take a lower priority information around the outbreak and unfortunately, a lot of that compared to the welfare of society at large. In the case of Wuhan, information is not founded on science. They are looking at social hotels were used to isolate people who were at risk of infecting media sites and other information sources to gain knowledge about others. The nutritional impact of isolation of individuals indicated the outbreak, and so it is important that consumers get the most that while their energy intake remained unchanged, their intake accurate and scientifically-based information from academic, in- of vitamins, minerals and plant-based protein and fatty acids was dustry and government sources. compromised. In addition, the lack of physical activity may cause What is evident to all, and was agreed by the panel members, obesity and non-communicable diseases (NCD) in the long term. is the necessity to educate consumers and provide them with ac- Thus, the elderly population needs to pay greater attention to diet- curate information so that they can make sound decisions. This related and other risk factors. In Wuhan, providing safe and nu- must be done in a timely manner as we are dealing with a rapidly tritionally balanced meals to doctors, nurses and other healthcare evolving situation. The food industry must ensure the availabil- professionals and also ambulance drivers were considered essen- ity of safe food with adequate wholesomeness and nutritional at- tial. Cooked meals were continuously made available to them in tributes to the global community, especially because certain raw the areas they were serving during the crisis in spite of the dif- materials and ingredients may need to be substituted and process- ficulties encountered. ing conditions changed or modified. This is particularly essential With respect to food availability, it was noted that primary for large cities and urban populations in developing countries. production may not be severely affected because production ar- Meanwhile, it is essential that the personnel working in the food eas are often geographically distant from urban population densi- industry and allied areas of food supply chain remain in good ties. However, the pandemic may affect harvesting, transportation health with consideration of physical distancing in processing and distribution.