Viktor Tutelyan: In quarantine, energy spent by our bodies reduces drastically, but our eating habits persist

This year, on the second observance of the World Food Safety Day (7 June 2020) FAO wishes to draw attention and inspire action to help prevent, detect and manage foodborne risks, contributing to food security, human health, economic prosperity, agriculture, market access, tourism and sustainable development.

On the occasion of the World Food Safety Day 2020, FAO's Liaison Office in Moscow approached Academician Viktor Tutelyan, a renowned expert in the field of nutrition and food safety, Member of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences and of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Director of the Russian Federal Research Centre of Nutrition, Biotechnology and Food Safety, for comments. 

- Russia is one of the world leaders in terms of international cooperation when it comes to ensuring food safety. In your opinion, currently what are the main challenges facing mankind in this area, and what should the United Nation's Food Systems Summit 2021 in New York focus on?

- Food products are a source of energy and vital nutrients, as we say macro- and micronutrients, and biologically active components. We need to consume about 170 chemical compounds with our food on a daily basis. One third of them should be irreplaceable nutrients that are not synthesized within our body but come from the outside. The deficit of these nutrients may cause diseases, pathologies, and sometimes, in cases of extreme deficit, even death.

Following the Hippocratic Oath and its critical dictum, “first, do no harm", any new technology of manufacturing food products that enter the human body require the most thorough monitoring.

First of all, food must be safe not to cause any harm to health. Hence, one of the most urgent tasks both today and tomorrow is the development of methods for the detection of potentially dangerous chemical, biological agents, and viruses in food products. It is necessary to study them, regularly control and monitor them, and introduce hygiene-related regulations and standards.

Another important area that requires close attention at all levels, and which has been gaining momentum, is biotechnologies and their use in the production of food ingredients. Today, all countries are particularly focused on genetically modified food sources. The use of new bioresources is on the rise, and they are used - thanks to novel technologies - to create food products. All of them must be safe for humans. This is the range of tasks in the field of food safety that must be our focus and must constantly evolve and improve.

- The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated many of the problems within our food chains, including the issue of food safety. What is being done today in Russia to provide safe food products for the population?

- The COVID-19 pandemic is today's new global problem, which requires immediate emergency measures to ensure public safety. Our Federal Research Centre for Nutrition, Biotechnology and Food Safety is now actively working along two tracks.

The first is the enhancement of the adaptive capacity of the human body to fight the virus. Our center has developed a system of nutrition, diets for people on self-isolation or in quarantine who require nutrition support. The purpose of such a diet is to ensure the consumption of all the chemical compounds that I mentioned above, and the necessary energy. In quarantine, energy spent by our bodies reduces drastically, but our eating habits persist. Together with the Russian Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor), we have developed and approved guidelines for nutrition in conditions of self-isolation and quarantine. 

The other track of our studies is the safety of food products. As numerous research projects have demonstrated, the new coronavirus is stable in the environment; and having touched packaging or food products it can survive for a long time and pose danger to humans. Our Institute has swiftly developed methodological guidelines on measure to prevent the transmission of this infection through food products. These are measures that must be applied at all stages of product life cycle, from production to packaging, to transportation, and to distribution and sales. The document is extremely important and has been submitted to Rospotrebnadzor for consideration.

- Ensuring food safety is an objective that cannot be achieved without the concerted and coherent actions of all participants along the food chain - producers, transporters, processors, retailers and consumers. What contribution can each of us make as consumers to make sure that our products are not only tasty and nutritious, but also safe?

- Consumers must strictly comply with all anti-epidemic measures recommended by relevant medical services such as wearing facemasks and gloves and maintaining social distancing in public places. In food stores it is necessary to opt for packaged goods, and to not touch those items that are openly accessible. Compliance with basic anti-epidemic measures will help maintain our health and the health of our closest ones and prevent the spread of the infection.

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The views expressed in this information product are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of FAO.