All this begs the question: Can you get the coronavirus by eating and does cooking kill it?
While scientists are still studying the transmission of the novel virus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there’s no evidence that the virus spreads through food, noting the virus primarily spreads through respiratory droplets.
The CDC recommends washing hands before and after handling food and packaging and disinfecting surfaces.
"In general, because of poor survivability of these coronaviruses on surfaces, there is likely very low risk of spread from food products or packaging that are shipped over a period of days or weeks at ambient, refrigerated, or frozen temperatures," the CDC says on its website.
Dr. Stephen Berger, the co-founder of GIDEON, the Global Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology Network, tells The Los Angeles Times the question makes sense.
"Food items are, after all, objects which may be contaminated with the virus and placed in the mouth,” Berger says, “but like many other viruses, bacteria and parasites, these will be swallowed and most likely destroyed by stomach acids. Should the virus survive into the intestine, there is no pathway which will carry it to the lungs."
What temperature would kill the virus?
Foods cooked at 132.8 to 149 degrees Fahrenheit will kill the SARS virus, a disease closely related to COVID-19, Berger says. Most foods are cooked at or above that temperature.
The CDC says, "You should always handle and prepare food safely, including keeping raw meat separate from other foods, refrigerating perishable foods, and cooking meat to the right temperature to kill harmful germs."
