Don’t Be Intimidated by the Coronavirus on Frozen Chicken
Chinese authorities recently found traces of the coronavirus on frozen chicken wings imported from Brazil. But experts don’t think food (frozen or otherwise) is a coronavirus threat worth worrying about.
As Maria van Kerkhove from the World Health Organization noted at a press conference (about this here on Bloomberg), there are no known examples of someone contracting COVID-19 through food. The CDC states that “the risk of contracting COVID-19 through food, treated drinking water or food packaging is very low.”
The New York Times spoke with disease ecologist K. Brandon Ogbunu and virologist Angela Rasmussen and summarized their responses by stating that “an extremely unusual series of events must occur for the virus to be transmitted through frozen meat.”
There are viruses and bacteria that can be transmitted through food, but the virus that causes COVID-19 does not seem to be one of them. It is an enveloped virus, which means it has a thin membrane, and that membrane is vulnerable to destruction by a variety of things, including heat during cooking.
As a friendly reminder, you all still have to cook all raw chicken before you eat it, and be sure to wash your hands afterwards. Keep doing this and you should be fine.