It seems like we need more context to understand this sentence. My guess is that this is a story about a person who does not believe that anything is an "accident" (maybe he believes that all things happen for a reason? or that when people do things "by accident," it was really because of a subconscious desire?). It's irrational for him to be afraid of "accidentally" spilling food, since he doesn't believe in accidents. That's my best guess just based on these two sentences, but I could be completely wrong, since I don't know where the passage comes from. It seems like there must be a reason why the writer says "even if there were no such things as accidents," since this isn't a normal worldview. So my guess is that it is the worldview of the character.

Hi! There was no accident. Nothing happened because he was scared of ruining his book if he'd dropped food on it. So he did not eat with his book close to the food. Is that clear? If you'd like more help, I'd be happy to assist you. Feel free to look at my teaching profile and class offerings and send me a message if you think I can help you.