Columbus Dispatch: COVID-19 Food Safety

Suddenly, going to the grocery store became a lot more nerve-wracking than ever before. But if you’re worried about contracting COVID-19 from your food, experts say you should be more worried about the people handing it to you and the packaging of the food itself.

When it comes to going on a grocery run, it’s best to follow this simple rule: get in, get your food and get out.

“To infect someone, the coronavirus needs to come into contact with certain receptors inside your body, which means getting it on your hands can be a way of transmission,” Joe Gastaldo, MD, OhioHealth system medical director, infectious diseases, told Columbus Dispatch reporter Patrick Cooley.

Even if your food could carry the virus, viruses are generally sensitive to high heat, and thoroughly cooking food makes it safe. Dr. Gastaldo doesn’t recommend hosing down your groceries with Lysol as soon as you get home either.

"Spraying food or packages with disinfectant and those cleaning chemicals could make you ill too,” said Dr. Gastaldo. “While there are studies that show the coronavirus can survive on certain surfaces for long periods, we don't yet have a complete understanding of what that means."

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