Is Vladimir Putin at risk of being poisoned?
Reportedly, it's something he's worried about.
Monarchs and state officials throughout history have employed food tasters.
Irish Chef Kevin Dundon told People magazine in 2016 that Queen Elizabeth II employed a
food taster when he cooked for her in Calgary the early '90s, though her former personal
chef, Darren McGrady, told the Daily Mail that he did not believe the Queen ever officially
hired a person to consistently fill this role.
The practice of hiring a person to taste meals before serving them dates back to the Middle
Ages.
Ruling factions during the Renaissance, like the Medici family of Florence, had a reputation
for poisoning rivals, and King Louis XIV of France had designated "Officers of the Goblet"
at the ready to check the safety of his meals.
This practice has carried over to the modern era.
AFP reports that Barack Obama used a food taster during a 2009 visit to France, and
insiders have claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin hires food tasters in order
to ensure that he doesn't come in contact with harmful substances.
The international community raised their collective eyebrows back in 2012 when a former chef told
the Daily Mail that Putin has staff test his food before dining.
The source clarified further, saying that these taste testers primarily worked in Moscow
and didn't travel with the president.
Putin reportedly has a variety of safeguards in place to ensure his safety while dining.
In 2014, the Independent reported that he employs a full-time food taster and has his
meals prepared by his own chef when traveling, at least according to leaks from a London
meeting of Club des Chefs des Chefs, a group of chefs who prepare meals for heads of state
and world leaders.
According to the Telegraph, once such chef noted,
"Tasters still exist but only in the Kremlin, where a doctor checks every dish with the
chef."
Sometimes, for added safety, Putin also reportedly likes to bring along his own salt, pepper,
bottled water, and napkins.
Keeping track of what Putin eats might be difficult, depending on his diet.
According to reporters from Russian TV network NTV, the head of state drank "raw quail eggs"
for breakfast, alongside some porridge, when they dined with him in 2012.
Putin also reportedly enjoys a cocktail of "beetroot and horseradish juice," but told
reporters in 2017 that, generally speaking, "[he] doesn't have much time for food."
He added,
“I like vegetables.Tomatoes, cucumbers, salad.
In the morning, porridge, cottage cheese, honey.
If there’s a choice between meat and fish, I prefer fish.
I also like lamb."
In 2018, the Mirror reported that the Russian president hired squads of food testers over
concerns of a possible threat, after Russian spy Sergei Skripal mysteriously received a
harmful dose of a nerve agent in the U.K.
One source told the Daily Star at the time that the poisoning was, quote, "driving [Putin]
to a mad level of paranoia."
The Russian President remains cautious everywhere he goes, as the New York Post noted in March
2022.
When meeting with advisers, he sits at the end of a very long table.
He has scouts patrol and secure areas he intends to visit, as you'd expect, but he also reportedly
installs jamming devices to thwart remote bomb detonation, and has his team surveil
nearby cell phones.
According to state media, his bodyguards even use Kingsman-style "kevlar umbrellas" to make
sure Putin remains secure in their care.
The Russian president has a long history tied to the use of poisons.
According to Insider, assassins under the direction of Putin have allegedly tried to
kill political opponents using a signature poison tied to the Kremlin.
It only makes sense that a president who allegedly uses poison as a strategy might also fear
the same tactic used against him.
According to Fiona Hill, former deputy assistant to the president and senior director for European
and Russian affairs on the National Security Council, Putin is growing increasingly paranoid
about being assassinated, following the invasion of Ukraine.
"Any loose talk about somebody taking him out or regime change, he believes we're in
that business anyway."
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