{"id":3352,"date":"2020-03-26T20:32:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-26T20:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nclnet.org\/covid_foodsafety\/"},"modified":"2020-10-23T11:28:50","modified_gmt":"2020-10-23T11:28:50","slug":"covid_foodsafety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nclnet.org\/covid_foodsafety\/","title":{"rendered":"Coronavirus and food safety: What you need to know"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Nailah John,\u00a0Linda Golodner Food Safety and Nutrition Fellow<\/strong><\/p>\n

Perhaps some of the only good news about the Covid-19 is that food is not the primary way that the virus can be spread. According to Harvard Medical School<\/a>, \u201cWe are still learning about transmission of COVID-19. It\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Great, but not all foods can or are intended to be cooked – think of deli meats, cole slaw, potato salad, cheeses, salads, fresh fruits and vegetables, breads, pastry, butter, cream cheese; so if the mainstay of a deli or restaurant is \u201cfresh\u201d foods, spreading the virus is a real threat if the right precautions are taken.<\/p>\n

And COVID-19 has made us all keenly aware of the importance of wiping surfaces and washing hands frequently, especially when handling food. We also know that COVID-19 can\u2019t typically be transmitted from food or from food packaging. But we do have suggestions.<\/p>\n

Food safety measures one should take:<\/p>\n