FDA: No Evidence Virus Transmitted By Food Packaging

Roll Call reports:



A top FDA official Thursday sought to assure a U.S. public still wondering if COVID-19 can be transmitted by food and feeling unsettled by grocery shelves empty of their favorite foods. Frank Yiannas, Food and Drug Administration deputy commissioner of food policy and response, acknowledged during a press call that the United States has entered a “new frontier” with the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Yiannas said there is no evidence that the respiratory virus can be transmitted by food or packaging on food. “It’s a respiratory virus. The primary way it causes illnesses is largely through human to human transmission,” Yiannas said. He said outbreaks of food-borne pathogens are generally caused by bacteria. He said that if people are uneasy about packaging on food they could wipe the packaging with a disinfectant sheet and let the packaging air dry.