As the weather warms, looking ahead to gardening in the weeks and months ahead can be a favorite past-time.  Are there any special precautions that we need to take when growing fruits and vegetables this spring and summer because of the COVID-19 pandemic?  Experts actually recommend preparing the garden and starting seedlings indoors as great activities for individuals […]

Are foods from the grocery store safe?  There is no evidence that we can get COVID-19 from the food that we eat – either from the food itself or from touching a package or container of food.  The way that we get the COVID-19 illness is from breathing in infected droplets from someone coughing or sneezing.  […]

Many of us have had the experience recently of seeing empty, or nearly empty, grocery store shelves.  Do we need to worry if there is enough food?  The good news is that despite what we may be seeing, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) assures us that the food supply is safe and secure.  Despite localized reports, there […]

With a ‘Safer at Home‘ order, many of us are looking to foods stocked in our pantries and cupboards to help feed our families.  What do dates on food products tell us? If the date is past, is the food still safe?  In most cases, yes!  Dates on food package labels are generally quality dates, an indication […]

We all know that hand washing is an important defense against coronavirus.  As we work to keep ourselves and our families healthy, routine cleaning and disinfecting of areas in our homes is important.  Cleaning removes dirt from surfaces, while disinfecting kills germs that remain after cleaning. What is the best way to clean and disinfect the kitchen?  Follow these steps: Clean […]

What do we know about food safety and COVID-19?  COVID-19 is caused by one of a family of coronaviruses.  COVID-19 is a respiratory illness.  The primary route of infection is through air-borne virus particles from the droplets of a sneeze or cough of an infected individual.  If you breathe in virus-containing droplets of mucus or saliva from […]

The coronavirus that causes COVID-19 is a respiratory virus.  While the Centers for Disease Control does not consider COVID-19 to be a foodborne illness, there are actions that you can take to prevent foodborne illness that appear effective in fighting the coronavirus.  Of the food safety steps in helping to mitigate coronavirus, hand washing appears to be the most important.  Avoiding contact with […]

How likely is a person to come down with COVID-19 from take-out food from a local restaurant or items purchased at the grocery store?  Luckily, this isn’t very likely to happen. Coronovirus is a respiratory virus.  This means that it spreads primarily through the respiratory system, with the main transmission through person-to-person droplet infection.  Someone who is infected coughs […]