After several outbreaks of corona in slaughterhouses, there is uncertainty: can I currently be infected with the corona virus via meat and sausages?
Over 1,000 employees of the German slaughterhouse "Tönnies" tested positive for the corona virus. An entire district is once again considered a risk area, Gütersloh is experiencing a second lockdown. The consequences of the corona outbreak at Tönnies are massive.
It is not the only slaughterhouse that has had corona cases. An outbreak at Wiesenhof in Lower Saxony is currently being reported. Again and again meat factories are becoming public due to infections and make the grievances of the German meat trade visible.
The problem is not a regional one. Rather, the products of large meat factories are often processed nationwide and delivered to supermarkets. So it is not unlikely that someone from southwest Germany has ever had a piece of Tönnies meat on their plates. But that tastes less when presenting the now known working conditions on site, coupled with the Corona outbreak. One question in particular grazes my thoughts: can I become infected with the corona virus through meat?
Can farm animals transmit the corona virus?
To get to the bottom of this question, two things have to be considered: the direct route of infection via the meat and thus the animal – and the indirect route via meat contaminated during production.
For the first, the Friedrich Löffler Institute initially gives the all-clear to the German press agency. So far, there is no evidence that German farm animals transmit the corona virus. Chickens and pigs have already been tested and should not even be able to become infected with the pathogen, as the Tagesschau reports. Something similar is suspected with regard to cattle, where the tests are still pending.
Can I be infected by contaminated meat?
But what about the factory? What happens when a corona infected person processes, touches, maybe even sneezes or coughs on the meat?
The Consumer Advice Center North Rhine-Westphalia also has a clear answer to this:
"There is currently no proven casesthat people have become infected with the novel corona virus through eating contaminated food or through contact with contaminated objects. "
Theoretically, you can become infected with surfaces if you cough or sneeze on them – but you would have to touch infected secretions and get them to the mucous membranes. This protects hand hygiene on the one hand, and the obligation to wear mouth protection in supermarkets and at the sales counter on the other.
In addition, both the consumer advice center and the daily news show the instability of the corona virus. This cannot multiply on food. Even if the meat was in contact with the corona pathogen in the company, it should have died by the time of sale in the supermarket.
In general, contagion with the corona virus via meat is highly unlikely. Anyone who wants to be sure is currently paying particular attention to the hygiene measures that actually always apply in the kitchen: wash hands and objects well, do not touch them in the face, and always roast poultry well.
Sources used: German press agency, consumer center, daily news