COVID-19 and Food Safety

ABSTRACT

Concerns over whether people can be infected with SARS-CoV-2 from food and packaging have caused significant disruption to global food trade. SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can remain infectious and detectable on packaging or some foods under certain cold-chain conditions. However, there is minimal evidence that people have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 from packaging or from foodborne transmission. Cooking of food will inactivate the virus. Any infectious SARS-CoV-2 present in consumed food would likely be inactivated by stomach acid. Nonetheless, good food hygiene practices are sensible precautions to minimize any possibility of food or packaging acting as a vector for SARS-CoV-2.