Can food packaging carry coronavirus?

We asked questions about the best ways to manage your grocery store safely during the pandemic.


You already know that staying away from people is the number one protection strategy of the contraction of thecoronavirus. This is because the virus is transmitted through saliva droplets and can travel from one person to another when an infected person is eternate, coughing or spreading these droplets.

For this reason, grocery stores can be anxious-inciting for several reasons. For one, they are usually packed with people, who will be more likely than not to penetrate your six-foot radius safety zone.But the question of secondary transmission through groceries and packaging quickly become something we are all worried. Can objects and surfaces shelter the virus long enough to infect another person who touches it? If you use your grocery store when you come home or wear gloves when shopping?

We discussed experts to discover. (For more grocery news, here is8 groceries who can soon be in the short diet.)

So, can you get coronavirus from the grocery store that you bring home?

"No, it is not likely that you will get from coronavirus from the grocery store that you bring at home," says the public health and founder specialist ofGive place, Winner of Carol, MSE, MPH."We know that the highest transmission rate of the virus is a person to the person, no broccoli to the person."

Jory Lange, a national lawyer for food security, accepts: "Although technically possible, it is very unlikely. There is no known case of Covid-19 food. According to the CDC and the FDA, there is no has no evidence to the transmission of COVID-19 associated with food or food packaging. "

The reason for this, as Lange says, is that coronavirus is vulnerable to heat,"The kitchen should kill any coronavirus that can be on food."

But what about foods you eat believed, like fresh fruits and vegetables? "The foods you do not cook, like fruits and vegetables, should always be washed with water before eating anyway," she says.

Stacey Krawczyk, MS, RD, Senior Consultant at theGrain Food Foundation, offers a cautious note against the use of difficult chemicals on your product: "The FDA and CDC both recommend that you do not wash with anything other than clean water. Residual detergents or chemicals can be harmful if ingested. "

For more advice, read our guide forWashing products safely during coronavirus.

What about grocery packaging?

The consensus on it seems to be that, although technically possible,Transmit the virus by inanimate objects such as grocery packaging, is highly unlikely. Studies have shown that coronavirus has the ability to survive on certain surfaces for up toseveral daysbut Katie Heil, a certified food security professional toFood safety of the stateNote that it does not seem to be proven that people can be infected when they come into contact with these surfaces.

However, if you are the kind of person who prefers an abundance of caution, Lange advises you to try the following techniques:

  1. After prompting your grocery store, wash or throw bags. Then wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water for 20 seconds.
  2. Consider defining pantry items on the side for a few days before eating them. Coronavirus can last 3 days on plastic or metal and 24 hours on cardboard. If you do not plan to eat something in the next 3 days (and that it does not need to be refrigerated), there is probably less risk of cross-contamination when you set it to the side that you do not Have handling to erase down.
  3. You can still wipe the milk or juice juice containers before putting them in the refrigerator. We treat these things often and doing this, you will not have to remind you of washing your hands every time you touch the milk carton.
  4. For all other foods you refer or freeze yourself, no box after getting out of the refrigerator, then wash your hands.

If you wear gloves at the grocery store?

The latest recommendation of CDC advises wearing a facial maskBut what about wearing gloves when handling objects to the grocery store, what other people may have affected?"Current recommendations do not suggest that wearing gloves should be the practice of routine", Krawczyk said. It suggests using a hand disinfectant as an additional precaution before and after the selection of products, payment and loading and unloading your grocery store.

As always, gloves or not,Be count not to touch your face or potentially contaminate other surfaces. Krawczyk recommends leave as many things at home or in your vehicle as possible, reduce the chances of contamination (handbag, telephone, etc.)

Now that you know how to treat your food properly, here'sCoronavirus grocery shopping myths you have to stop believing.

Eat this, not that! Constantly monitoring the latest foods for COVID-19 in order to keep you healthy, safely and to your knowledge (and to answerYour most urgent questions) here are theprecautionsYou should take the grocery store, thefoodyou should have by hand, theMeal delivery services andRestaurant chains offering an imprintYou must know and the means to help yousupport those who need. We will continue to update these new information that develops.Click here for all our COVID-19 covers, andSubscribe to our newsletter stay up to date.

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