Is it safe to order takeout during coronavirus? Yes, but wash your hands

Yes, it is safe to order restaurant takeout during the coronavirus pandemic, but we should follow the same sanitary precautions as advised by public health professionals.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration continues to hold that food and food packaging presents a low risk for the transmission of COVID-19. The respiratory disease, SARS-CoV-2, does not spread through the digestive system, unlike foodborne illness such as E.coli or norovirus carried on contaminated food.

In fact, stomach acids would likely kill the coronavirus, says Anne-Marie Gloster, who teaches culinary and nutrition science at the University of Washington. There is little to no risk with cooked food, but a cold sandwich, for instance, is not heat-processed.

“If you’re handling this sandwich, then you rub your eyes or stick your fingers in your mouth, licking the mustard that dripped down your arms…,” she said, that could be a problem — but only if the person who made the sandwich, and you, fail to follow necessary precautions including hand washing and sanitizing of surfaces.

Still, it’s perfectly acceptable to take extra steps during this pandemic.

As Gloster told The News Tribune in March on whether it was safe to dine out (before restaurants were ordered to close their dining rooms), “Go to places that you feel good about, and don’t be afraid to ask.”

The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department has explained that COVID-19 will not spread through the food itself and that the same food safety measures apply during the pandemic.

At this point, eateries that remain open for takeout have developed systems — in some cases quite intricate and specific — to minimize contact between employee and customer. It is also in their best interest, from both a public health standpoint and their own bottom line, to follow strict food safety practices, and in this crisis, heightened sanitation practices.

In dozens of conversations with restaurant workers throughout the past month, all have emphasized to The News Tribune the extra steps they are taking to keep everyone — including their own staffs — safe.

Now that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have recommended that people wear masks in public when staying six feet apart is not possible, workers handling your food and the packaging are, too.

Bill Marler is a Seattle-based attorney specializing in food safety with more than 25 years of experience.

“There is a low risk of COVID-19 making it onto the exterior of the package, and you getting it on your hands and wiping your nose or wiping your eyes. That is a risk, but it’s a low risk,” Marler said.

Once you get it home

When ordering takeout, pay attention to how you handle the packaging once you bring it into the house.

“When you get home, put the takeout container on your countertop. Take the food out. You’ve washed your hands, throw it away, clean your counter and eat your food,” said Marler. “Under the circumstances, we really don’t know who’s sick and who’s not. I think it’s just good common practice.”

Gloster agrees: “Bring it home, put it in a different container, your own Tupperware or straight onto your own plate. Dispose of the containers, wash your hands, then get your plate and tuck into your food.”

If you or someone in your house is at a higher risk for COVID-19, including the immunocompromised and the elderly, then take more steps to reassure your family.

“That’s the smartest thing to do,” she said. “It gives this sense that you’re doing something instead of not doing something.”

Nonetheless, she cautions that every household’s risk differs, and it’s OK to weigh your resources.

She doesn’t wipe her groceries down because it’s a “low, low, low risk.”

Foodborne illness

As the spread of COVID-19 has slowed due in large part to social distancing measures ordered by most states’ governors, Marler is keeping his eye on how foodborne illness affects the U.S.

Just a few months ago, in late 2019, romaine lettuce and bagged salad mixes was linked to an E.coli outbreak that sickened hundreds in more than two dozen states. The Trump administration also has moved to increase the line speed at pork processing plants, and transferred routine inspections from U.S. Department of Agriculture officials to plant employees.

“It will be interesting to see, with restaurants shut, whether or not foodborne illnesses related to food drops or increases, and if it does, why?” asked Marler, who worked on the infamous Jack in the Box E.coli case in the early 1990s. He added that many food safety experts in health departments have been reassigned to focus on the epidemiology of COVID-19.

“This is a normal time frame for another outbreak to happen,” he said.

He’s not entirely pessimistic, though. It’s possible that this pandemic might permanently change human behavior, particularly in hand washing and in ensuring sick workers stay home. That shift could mean fewer foodborne illnesses, too.

This story was originally published April 20, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Is it safe to order takeout during coronavirus? Yes, but wash your hands."