To take out or to eat-in? That is the question.
While the coronavirus pandemic has dashed brunch plans for the foreseeable future, takeout and delivery from some of your favorite restaurants is still an option during the COVID-19 lockdown. Actually, since last Sunday, it’s the only option.
But is it safe? Experts say yes, but with a few caveats. The Post spoke to Dr. Kristen Gibson, an associate professor of food safety and microbiology at the University of Arkansas, about what you should know before you dig in. “I wouldn’t say avoid eating to-go food,” she says.
Plus, you probably won’t get COVID-19 through consuming food. “The risk of contracting coronavirus through food has been, and is, extremely small,” Martin Wiedmann, a professor of food safety in Cornell University’s food science department, tells The Post.
Here are five tips on handling food during the coronavirus pandemic.
The safest option? Prep and cook your own food
“At home, you know who’s preparing your food, and you know if you’re ill or not,” says Gibson, adding that when other people are cooking up your chow, there’s “a higher risk of coming into contact with some sort of pathogen.” Still, she doesn’t go so far as to forbid your favorite joint.
Wash your hands before you eat delivery food
Some delivery platforms are starting to do contact-free delivery — dropping food at your doorstep so there’s no change of hands. Grubhub, which owns Seamless, and Instacart have both implemented these policies. A rep from Grubhub says they have also “provided drivers and restaurants with the CDC’s recommendations that focus on good hygiene.”
Still, contactless delivery typically involves a handoff. If you accidentally touch while tipping your delivery person, just remember to wash your hands for 20 seconds with soap and water.
The most effective disinfectants for combating coronavirus
“Even if you did wipe the outside of whatever container or bag it was delivered in, you need to wash your hands,” says the doc. And if you’re wondering if Lysol-ing takeout containers does anything: “It’s a big unknown,” says Gibson.
Don’t touch your face
You’ve heard this one before, but it’s especially important to remember when you’re tucking into dinner.
“This is best practice all the time,” says Gibson, “That’s just cleanliness.”
Many outlets have stepped up sanitary precautions. The chain Juice Press — which already requires smoothie-makers to wear gloves — says, “We have increased the frequency of cleaning and disinfecting our stores . . . and surfaces” in an e-mail to The Post.
Disinfecting packaging is less important than washing hands
What to do with food packaging can be confusing in the time of corona, and for good reason.
Dining during coronavirus: The best places for takeout (even Michelin-starred)
“There’s different types of surfaces,” says Gibson, “I would consider cardboard a porous surface. It will absorb liquid [like sanitizer].” Hard countertops, on the other hand “can be disinfected more easily.” Skip the science degree and just remember to wash your hands after you handle any packages from the outside.
Hot food could kill the coronavirus
“Viruses are susceptible to heat,” says Gibson. The coronavirus, she says “would be inactivated, or killed, with food that is hotter.” That might mean zapping your takeout in the microwave or skipping the milkshake from your favorite burger joint.
In the coming weeks, can we expect to see harsher measures, like those taking place in China? There, deliverers for McDonald’s, Starbucks and other chains have been required to carry cards displaying their temperatures as well as those of the people who prepped the food to verify their good health. This is in addition to protocols around disinfecting delivery bags.
Wiedmann doesn’t think it will get that bad here. He says “social distancing in a reasonable way,” and “not sneezing on other people” are far more important risk-mitigating factors than handing off a tip (and please, make it a generous one) to your delivery guy.
“Even if I stay in my house and lock myself in, and eat no food, my risk of acquiring coronavirus is not zero,” says Wiedmann. “But my risk of dying of starvation is extremely high.”
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