Can I get virus from food? Your questions answered

New information on how we can best protect ourselves against contamination

With information being revealed on an almost daily basis about how coronavirus is spread, it raises new questions about how we can best protect ourselves.

Life in lockdown means that our primary contact with the outside world is either through supermarket shopping or deliveries to our door – and that means our groceries have become a focal point for concerns around contamination.

Food Standards Scotland, the public body that oversees safety and protection around food and drink, has issued advice to consumers about how to handle products and ingredients. Here, we share their answers to some of those key questions:

Can I catch coronavirus (Covid-19) from food?

There is currently no evidence that food is a source of coronavirus and it is very unlikely that it can be transmitted through the consumption of food, according to the European Food Safety Authority.

Coronavirus is not a foodborne gastrointestinal virus like norovirus – also known as the winter vomiting bug– which causes illness through eating contaminated food.

Covid-19 is a respiratory illness and the transmission route is thought to happen mainly through direct contact with respiratory droplets generated when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

It is possible for Covid-19 to be spread indirectly when someone touches a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touches their mouth or nose, but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads. Thorough and frequent handwashing will further reduce any risk of spreading indirectly through contact with potentially contaminated surfaces.

Also, based on what we know about similar coronaviruses, the virus would be inactivated through proper cooking and would be removed from food preparation surfaces by thorough cleaning and disinfection.

While food is not considered to be a source or transmission route for Covid19 it’s always important to follow the four key steps of food safety – cooking, cleaning, chilling and preventing cross contamination – to reduce the risks of all foodborne illness.

Can I catch coronavirus from food packaging?

Indirect contact with Covid-19 through touching a surface or object that has the virus on it is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads. However, thorough – with soap for 20 seconds – and frequent hand washing will help to minimise the potential for indirectly spreading the virus from any surfaces that may have become exposed, including packaged and unpackaged foods. Hygienic handling of food is important to prevent the transmission of any bacterial or viral infection – not just Covid-19.

You are advised to wash your hands thoroughly after handling food deliveries or unpacking your food and drink at home on returning from the supermarket. Try not to touch your face while you are unpacking the products and disposing of any outer packaging.

Follow good food hygiene and wash fruit and vegetables by rubbing under water and peeling the outer layers or skins, if appropriate.

For more advice on preventing infection visit nhsinform.scot

There is also further information on food safety at foodstandards.gov.scot

Pictures: Shutterstock. A volunteer from a distribution hub delivers food to a vulnerable person in London.

Wash all fruit and vegetables before consumption.