Local authorities in Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province, east China, among others, have started a campaign to promote the use of serving chopsticks and spoons. These campaigns have been well received thus far, with wide public support, given that dining tables, particularly in China's food-sharing culture, are a channel through which diseases can spread.

Traditionally, Chinese people use their own chopsticks to take food from shared dishes and on occasions, even serve others using their own chopsticks in a show of hospitality or intimacy. In China it is generally deemed impolite to dine separately or use serving chopsticks.

Surveys show that only a quarter of Chinese realize the importance of dining separately or using serving chopsticks, and in most cases individuals state that to do so at gatherings would be seen as out of place. People argue that sharing dishes is a Chinese tradition, but historical records suggest that it is not as deep-rooted as people think.

The use of serving chopsticks in both public places and at home was proposed as early as 2003, when China was affected by the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic. The public received it well. But after the outbreak ended, society slipped back into old habits. Now, the emergence of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is challenging traditional practices once more.

Approach to promote health

Li Dandan (www.zmdnews.cn): For many years, Chinese people have shared dishes at the dinner table, and offering food to others using one's own chopsticks has been commonplace. Seldom have people opposed this practice. To the contrary, many think that using serving chopsticks smacks of deliberately distancing oneself from others, and is unhospitable. Rarely do people focus on the hidden risks of sharing foods and other so-called hospitable practices.

With many diseases, saliva is a major route of transmission. From this perspective, chopsticks are a major channel through which a virus can spread. People who use their own chopsticks to serve others unintentionally damage others' health in ways that could be prevented if serving chopsticks are used.

Of course, it is not easy to change traditional culinary etiquette overnight. Restaurants and eateries should offer serving chopsticks and push people to use them. Health authorities and the media need to play their part in persuading the public of the merits of serving chopsticks. More importantly, people themselves must become more familiar with serving chopsticks and feel inclined to use them in the knowledge that they are good for everyone's health.

Tu Lin (jxcomment.jxnews.com.cn): The coronavirus outbreak has disrupted people's daily lives as well as their daily health and hygiene habits. Wearing masks, frequent hand washing and social distancing have been widely adopted.

Serving cutlery is also becoming more fashionable. Back in 2003 when SARS struck, this catering style began to be promoted and was well received. However, after the SARS epidemic subsided, this habit, together with many other hygienic practices, was again usurped by entrenched culinary habits. This time, the coronavirus outbreak demonstrates that it is time to get rid of these bad habits for good to protect our health.

Good culinary practices are important to a nation's health. The habits developed during the pandemic are not only important for curbing this disease, but should be embraced as normal in the following years.

Recently, many cities and provinces have been encouraging people to use serving chopsticks and dine separately. The pandemic serves as an opportunity for the public to more willingly transition to these hygienic culinary habits. The use of serving chopsticks, even at home, will not only protect one's own health but the health of others as well.

A shift of concepts

Zhao Huanhuan (baijiahao.baidu.com): Several local authorities have launched campaigns to encourage the use of serving chopsticks and spoons. Due to the risk posed by the ongoing pandemic, the public have been more supportive of this proposal than before.

Of course, some argue that such measures are unnecessary. Particularly in the case of dinner with close friends and family, serving chopsticks are seen as inconvenient and a barrier to intimacy. Moreover, some claim that it is Chinese tradition for people to serve themselves from shared dishes, not to use serving chopsticks.

However, historical records show that for a long period in ancient times, the Chinese dined separately, and when they did share the same table, they ate from their own set of dishes.

It was the influence of nomadic tribes from the north and the arrival of high tables and stools that made it easier for people to gather for meals and for people to begin to eat in the way we do today. Long ago, people ate separately, often sitting on the ground.

For hundreds of years people in China have forged social bonds by sharing plates of food and using their own chopsticks. People are comforted by adherence to these traditions, neglecting the health risks of this practice.

A growing number of people have recently tested positive for helicobacter pylori—a dangerous foodborne bacteria that causes stomach infection—and during the course of this pandemic there has been no lack of news about cross-infection caused by group dining without the use of serving cutlery. These examples are sufficiently severe to persuade people to shift to dining separately, or at least to using serving chopsticks.

Nowadays, whether due to the threat of viral mutation or as a natural consequence of social progress and sufficient supply of food, it is necessary for people to shift to more hygienic culinary practices. Everyone has an obligation to embrace and advocate these new habits.

In the face of the coronavirus outbreak, we need to reconsider whether our traditional habits are hygienic enough for modern life. If sharing dishes can lead to the spread of foodborne diseases, then why not get rid of this practice? Using serving cutlery, instead of distancing oneself from others, is a true mark of respect. It shows a sense of responsibility for others, as well as our own health. Hopefully this campaign will make serving chopsticks part of China's culinary culture.

Yuan Yuncai (Changsha Evening News): The biggest obstacle to the public's embracing serving chopsticks and spoons is not that they are complicated or inconvenient, but deep-rooted and outdated culinary concepts. Some believe that using serving chopsticks is not intimate enough and emphasizes division.

The use of chopsticks is for the sake of health and hygiene, otherwise people would use their hands to eat. As long as people understand this, it shouldn't be difficult for them to see that eating from shared dishes is unhygienic.

The use of serving chopsticks in restaurants, canteens and at home will help to greatly reduce the spread of various foodborne diseases. At this moment, it is especially important to stop the disease from spreading via unhygienic catering habits.

More importantly, the use of serving chopsticks should not be a temporary measure to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, but an everyday practice going forward. Whether at home or at gatherings, people should develop the habit of using serving chopsticks and spoons.

Yang Yulong (The Beijing News): The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the risks of sharing dishes with others at the table. The pandemic also offers an opportunity for the Chinese to embrace serving cutlery.

The question now is how to persuade people to move away from old practices and embrace serving chopsticks. Local authorities have an obligation to let the public know the importance of departing from these habits, and if consensus is reached, no one will feel impolite or out of place when using serving chopsticks.

People also need to develop the habit of using serving chopsticks at home, as well as at restaurants and public eateries. During the SARS outbreak, there were calls to encourage the use of serving chopsticks, even at home, and it is now necessary to stress it again.

All of society, including catering businesses, canteens, families and individuals, should make a real effort to dine separately, or at least use serving chopsticks. This should become a new social norm.

Copyedited by Laurence Coulton