SARS-CoV-2 Remains Infectious on Refrigerated Deli Food, Meats, and Fresh Produce for up to 21 Days

Mo Jia,Tina M. Taylor,Reza Ovissipour,Andrea S. Bertke,Sterling M. Senger

doi:10.3390/foods11030286

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has been detected on foods and food packaging and the virus can infect oral cavity and intestinal cells, suggesting that infection could potentially occur following ingestion of virus-contaminated foods. To determine the relative risk of infection from different types of foods, we assessed survival of SARS-CoV-2 on refrigerated ready-to-eat deli items, fresh produce, and meats (including seafood). Deli items and meats with high protein, fat, and moisture maintained infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 for up to 21 days. However, processed meat, such as salami, and some fresh produce exhibited antiviral effects. SARS-CoV-2 also remained infectious in ground beef cooked rare or medium, but not well-done. Although infectious SARS-CoV-2 was inactivated on the foods over time, viral RNA was not degraded in similar trends, regardless of food type; thus, PCR-based assays for detection of pathogens on foods only indicate the presence of viral RNA, but do not correlate with presence or quantity of infectious virus. The survival and high recovery of SARS-CoV-2 on certain foods support the possibility that food contaminated with SARS-CoV-2 could potentially be a source of infection, highlighting the importance of proper food handling and cooking to inactivate any contaminating virus prior to consumption.

Highlights

IntroductionPublisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations
COVID-19 patients have been reported to generate 1.7 × 104 copies of SARS-CoV-2 in sputum during a typical cough, which could be deposited on the surface of foods d sputum during a typical cough, which could be deposited on the surface of foods during processing or handling [34]
To determine if a PCR-based assay for SARS-CoV-2 would accurately correlate with the quantity of infectious virus, we investigated the relationship between viral RNA genome copy number, using a PCR-based assay, and infectious viral titers, determined by plaque assay, in several foods from our three categories

Summary

Introduction

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Since the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic began in late 2019, more than 341 million cases and 5.5 million deaths have been reported worldwide, as of January 2022 [1]. The causative agent of the pandemic, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is an enveloped, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA virus classified to the family Coronaviridae, genus Betacoronavirus [2]. SARS-CoV-2 is known to be transmitted person-to-person, primarily by airborne transmission and respiratory droplets (e.g., coughing, sneezing, talking) [3,4,5,6,7]. Alternative routes of transmission have not been adequately investigated

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