My wife attended yoga class this morning and one of the women said she was soaking fruits and vegetables in water and vinegar out of concern for the coronavirus spreading through food.
The benefits of washing produce before consumption have been oft-reported, but the greater fear of contamination may convert more consumers.
But should shoppers worry about coronavirus spreading through food?
In fact, when you start to type in “can the coronavirus be,” Google completes the question with “be spread through food?”
Do shoppers need to soak fruits and vegetables in vinegar or anything else as precaution? Should they be wary about picking up bulk produce of any commodity, in view of possible contamination by previous shoppers?
Google search results say:
Can I catch the coronavirus by eating food prepared by others?
“We are still learning about transmission of COVID-19. It’s not clear if this is possible, but if so it would be more likely to be the exception than the rule. That said, COVID-19 and other coronaviruses have been detected in the stool of certain patients, so we currently cannot rule out the possibility of occasional transmission from infected food handlers. The virus would likely be killed by cooking the food.”
Can Coronavirus Be Transmitted Through Food?
“Researchers are still learning the specifics of how COVID-19 is transmitted, but we do know that the disease can spread through droplets that are released from the nose or mouth when someone coughs, sneezes or exhales.
Disease transmission becomes possible when someone inhales these droplets or touches their eyes, mouth or nose after coming into contact with surfaces where these droplets land. As of now there’s no evidence of COVID-19 transmission through food.
Are there foods in grocery stores we should avoid?
“Since there’s no known transmission of COVID-19 through food, you don’t need to worry about avoiding any foods in particular. A bigger concern when shopping is the risk of coronavirus transmission from person to person.
From the Food Safety Authority of Ireland
Can the virus be passed on through food?
“Experience with SARS and MERS suggest that people are not infected with the virus through food. So, it is unlikely the virus is passed on through food and there is no evidence yet of this happening with COVID-19 (coronavirus) to date.
Coronaviruses need a host (animal or human) to grow in and cannot grow in food. Thorough cooking is expected to kill the virus because we know that a heat treatment of at least 30min at 60ºC is effective with SARS.”
From Food Standards Australia New Zealand
Can the virus be transmitted through food?
“Previous experience with outbreaks of illness due to MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV and other respiratory viruses (e.g. avian influenza) suggest that novel coronavirus may have been transmitted from animals to humans.
Transmission through food is unlikely and there is no evidence of this occurring with novel coronavirus to date, however investigations to identify the source of the outbreak, the extent of spread of the infection, and mode(s) of transmission are continuing.”
One story angle that has been talked about is when foodservice employees are sick but don’t feel they can take a sick day(could the same apply to retail produce clerks?). Here is Washington Post coverage on that topic:
It is obvious that people, not foods, are the biggest risk factors for spread of coronavirus.
Even so, wash your hands and wash your produce. The advice is timeless and irreproachable.
