Can You Trust Meat and Dairy?
It depends.
As we prepare for another pandemic, we're facing a new avenue of threats. While many viruses spread mainly through the air, we may have underestimated fomites and foodborne transmission. Viruses like H5N1 bird flu, and even Covid, can infect our food products. It's worth talking about.
Confession:
I've still been disinfecting my groceries with a UV-C light. I've got a table. I got some 2x2s and screwed them to the wall so I could put a curtain over the table. (You don't want to expose yourself to UVC rays). It's not perfect, but it's better than nothing. If you want to make a UV-C decontamination box, this 2020 article from Springer Nature explains how.
A 2023 study in The Lancet found that it's possible for Covid and other viruses to spread through surfaces. It's less efficient. It happens less often. It takes a larger amount of virus, but it can still happen. More importantly, virus on surfaces can wind up in the air again.
Here's the standard advice: …