Cargando…

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

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 dif...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Jia, Mo, Taylor, Tina M., Senger, Sterling M., Ovissipour, Reza, Bertke, Andrea S.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8834215/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35159438
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/foods11030286
_version_ 1784649131439947776
author Jia, Mo
Taylor, Tina M.
Senger, Sterling M.
Ovissipour, Reza
Bertke, Andrea S.
author_facet Jia, Mo
Taylor, Tina M.
Senger, Sterling M.
Ovissipour, Reza
Bertke, Andrea S.
author_sort Jia, Mo
collection PubMed
description 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.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-8834215
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2022
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-88342152022-02-12 SARS-CoV-2 Remains Infectious on Refrigerated Deli Food, Meats, and Fresh Produce for up to 21 Days Jia, Mo Taylor, Tina M. Senger, Sterling M. Ovissipour, Reza Bertke, Andrea S. Foods Article 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. MDPI 2022-01-21 /pmc/articles/PMC8834215/ /pubmed/35159438 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/foods11030286 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Jia, Mo
Taylor, Tina M.
Senger, Sterling M.
Ovissipour, Reza
Bertke, Andrea S.
SARS-CoV-2 Remains Infectious on Refrigerated Deli Food, Meats, and Fresh Produce for up to 21 Days
title SARS-CoV-2 Remains Infectious on Refrigerated Deli Food, Meats, and Fresh Produce for up to 21 Days
title_full SARS-CoV-2 Remains Infectious on Refrigerated Deli Food, Meats, and Fresh Produce for up to 21 Days
title_fullStr SARS-CoV-2 Remains Infectious on Refrigerated Deli Food, Meats, and Fresh Produce for up to 21 Days
title_full_unstemmed SARS-CoV-2 Remains Infectious on Refrigerated Deli Food, Meats, and Fresh Produce for up to 21 Days
title_short SARS-CoV-2 Remains Infectious on Refrigerated Deli Food, Meats, and Fresh Produce for up to 21 Days
title_sort sars-cov-2 remains infectious on refrigerated deli food, meats, and fresh produce for up to 21 days
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8834215/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35159438
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/foods11030286
work_keys_str_mv AT jiamo sarscov2remainsinfectiousonrefrigerateddelifoodmeatsandfreshproduceforupto21days
AT taylortinam sarscov2remainsinfectiousonrefrigerateddelifoodmeatsandfreshproduceforupto21days
AT sengersterlingm sarscov2remainsinfectiousonrefrigerateddelifoodmeatsandfreshproduceforupto21days
AT ovissipourreza sarscov2remainsinfectiousonrefrigerateddelifoodmeatsandfreshproduceforupto21days
AT bertkeandreas sarscov2remainsinfectiousonrefrigerateddelifoodmeatsandfreshproduceforupto21days