Coronavirus food fear: Government launches investigation after meatpacking outbreaks

Government scientists have asked the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to investigate whether food could harbour coronavirus following major outbreaks in meatpacking plants.

Four food processing factories in England and Wales have suffered clusters of disease, with 469 workers testing positive for the virus so far.

Across the world, staff at meat packing plants have been disproportionately impacted by disease, with cold, crowded and noisy working conditions which force people to shout, thought to be to blame.

Now it has emerged that government scientists have asked the FSA to check whether the virus could get into food. So far the risk has been assessed as low, but experts say they are continuing to monitor the situation.

A government source said: “We have actually asked the Food Standards Agency to look at this a few times, about the risk in meat and other produce, and their assessment is that the risk is very low for transmission on meat.

“But we’ll keep asking them to look as new evidence comes up.”

In the US, as many as 25,000 meat and poultry workers have tested positive for Covid-19, and at least 93 have died.

This week Kirklees council confirmed that 165 employees of a meat processing plant in West Yorkshire had contracted the virus and Public Health Wales reported 200 coronavirus cases at a meat processing plant on Anglesey.

There have also been 34 cases linked to Merthyr Tydfil and 70 to Wrexham.

Dr Michael Head, Senior Research Fellow in Global Health at the University of Southampton, said: “Whilst refrigeration may be a contributory factor to the spread of the virus, the key factors are likely to be the number of people close together in indoor conditions.

“Some of these factories have onsite or nearby accommodation where there are several people in each dormitory, they may be transported on a bus to the site of work, and they will be indoors together all day.”

Factories are also investigating whether the virus may be spreading through air circulation and filtration systems.

People in slaughterhouses and factories are often engaged in higher levels of physical activity and so are likely to breathe more heavily, releasing more of the virus into the air if they are infected.

There are also fears that many staff are from socially deprived groups and cannot afford to take time off work even when they are ill.

Prof Lawrence Young, Professor of Molecular Oncology, University of Warwick, added: “Factories and, in particular, indoor areas which are cold and damp are perfect environments for coronavirus to linger and spread.

“The virus survives on cold surfaces and, in the absence of ventilation and sunlight, virus-containing droplets from infected individuals are more likely to spread, settle and stay viable.

“In these enclosed areas and on busy production lines social distancing is more difficult. Speaking loudly or shouting across the noise of machinery can also result in the production of more infectious droplets and aerosols.”