Food Safety and Toxicity during Covid-19 Crisis

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in significant effects on individuals involved in various aspects of the food supply chain, including production, processing, marketing, transportation, and consumption. Recent findings have demonstrated the survival rate of the virus on food surfaces is limited to hours and it can remain viable for several days in the optimum moisture and temperature. Consequently, health organizations in many countries have encouraged the public to heat food before consumption. Food safety specialists declared that heating food is a proper approach to significantly inactivate viruses. It has been recommended that meat products must not be eaten raw or undercooked. However, the increased emphasis on reheating food at home, driven by consumer concerns regarding food safety, has introduced a new set of challenges. It is estimated that this trend may lead to a higher intake of chemically hazardous substances, especially polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, due to the potential formation of heat-induced toxicants. Accordingly, this phenomenon is projected to have significant negative effects on public health during the post-pandemic phase of COVID-19. This paper aims to shed light on the changes in household food preparation habits following the widespread transmission of the virus, while also addressing the concerns surrounding food chemical safety that have arisen as a result of reheating practices during the COVID-19 pandemic.