Sharing food is an ancient Chinese tradition as it is a way they convey affection. Parents serve their children portions of a child's favorite dish as children serve grandparents out of respect. Bosses even show this gesture to their employees out of generosity.
This expression of intimacy all happens between a particular utensil - chopsticks. Not only do Chinese diners share food using the same chopsticks they eat with, but other eating habits aren't hygienic like double-dipping.
Health experts in China are especially concerned by how this traditional behavior can accelerate the spread of COVID-19 amongst diners. Authorities have even been advertising slogans such as: 'the distance between you and civilized dining is just one pair of serving chopsticks.'
Restaurant owners quickly responded to Hangzhou where a 'Serving Chopsticks Alliance' was formed and even give discounts to diners who request serving chopsticks. One owner, Mr. Bai, shared that previously, people resisted the idea of serving chopsticks, 'but now, everyone is becoming more aware of the problem and slowly they are getting used to it.'
Hangzhou's Small Experiment
The Health Hazardous Factors Monitoring Center and Inspection Center of the Hangzhou Municipal Center for Disease Control conducted an experiment to test peoples' dining habits and to see exactly how much bacteria is spread during the process.
The first half of the experiment included 'training' for each diner - requiring them to alternate between personally used chopsticks and using serving chopsticks on two separate plates of the same dish.One of the diners shared that it had been his first time to eat so carefully, and feared to accidentally use to wrong chopsticks.
The team of experts took a total of 19 food samples before and after meals with results coming out 48 hours later. Findings included the contrast of bacteria between cold dishes, like pickled cucumber, and a hot dish like dumplings.
There was a significant reduction of bacterial contamination in the dishes when serving chopsticks were used as well.
They also observed that leftovers weren't eaten at all and concluded that there would be less food waste if personal chopsticks didn't touch the dishes, and leftovers would be free of shared bacteria.
Despite government efforts encouraging the public to practice better hygiene in eating, much still reason against the use of serving chopsticks.
Liu Peng, an education consultant in the city of Qingdao, shared that his dining habits have not changed. He declares that in all 30 years of his dining out, he's never contracted an infection.
2nd Round of Serving Chopsticks
Going back to the early 2000s when SARS broke out, the government attempted to put an end to the traditional sharing practices of diners.
Dr. Chan, a Chinese Pediatrician, reminded the public in 2005 to 'dine with serving chopsticks, thou will not be sick.'
Another attempt was Olympic Swimmer, actor, and singer hosting a kids' contest called 'I'm the Smartest at Using Serving Chopsticks.'
All this happening for a 2nd time, Liu reasons in present times, 'eating is the time for us all to relax, and we don't want to be bothered by all these little rules,' and with the virus so contagious, serving chopsticks won't prevent the spreading of infection.
