Report Survival of COVID Virus Surrogates in Frozen Meat....Is This Concerning...Not Really

A recent study published in Enviromental Microbiology evaluated the ability of SARS-CoV-2 viral surrogates (viruses shown to behave the same way as COVID viruses) to survive in frozen meat. The research concluded, "Viral surrogates differed in survival, depending on food product and temperature, but overall, viruses survived for extended periods of time at high concentrations at both refrigerated and frozen temperatures."

But hold the mass media presses. There is no reason for everyone to wig out. In this study, the viral particles were injected into the raw meat. Guess what, the meat will be cooked. An internally placed enveloped virus will be more likely survive, but externally, on the outside of the package, survival is not likely. and this is how a consumer would be more likely to encounter a viable virus.

Second consideration, the viral particle is unlikely to become airborne when it is inside the meat. Not unless someone is cool vaporizing raw meat juices.

So their statement "The ability of SARS-CoV-2 viral surrogates like Phi 6 and animal coronaviruses to survive for varying extents on some meat and fish products when stored refrigerated or frozen is a significant and concerning finding." This is a media grabbing statement that needs to be drastically qualified.

https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/aem.00504-22
Applied and Environmental Microbiology 7 June 2022
Persistence of Coronavirus Surrogates on Meat and Fish Products during Long-Term Storage
Authors: Emily S. Bailey https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1292-0771 ebailey@campbell.edu, Marina Curcic, Mark D. Sobsey

ABSTRACT

Multiple pathways of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission have been examined, and the role of contaminated foods as a source of SARS-CoV-2 exposure has been suggested. As many cases of SARS-CoV-2 have been linked to meat processing plants, it may be that conditions in live animal markets and slaughterhouses or meat processing plant procedures transfer viral particles to meat, poultry, and seafood during animal slaughter, processing, storage, or transport. Because of the potential for contamination of foods such as beef, chicken, pork, or fish, the goal of this study was to evaluate the survival of a lipid enveloped RNA bacteriophage, phi 6, as well as two animal coronaviruses, murine hepatitis virus (MHV) and transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV), as SARS-CoV-2 surrogates for their survival under various meat and fish cold-storage conditions over 30 days. Viral surrogates differed in survival, depending on food product and temperature, but overall, viruses survived for extended periods of time at high concentrations at both refrigerated and frozen temperatures. The ability of SARS-CoV-2 viral surrogates like Phi 6 and animal coronaviruses to survive for varying extents on some meat and fish products when stored refrigerated or frozen is a significant and concerning finding. Continued efforts are needed to prevent contamination of foods and food processing surfaces, worker hands, and food processing utensils such as knives, and there is a need to better address the lack of or inadequate disinfection of these foods prior to meat packaging.

IMPORTANCE The ability of SARS-CoV-2 viral surrogates like Phi 6 and animal coronaviruses to survive for long periods on meat and fish products at cold temperatures emphasizes the need for rigorous and sustained food sanitation and hygiene in the harvest, transport, processing, and distribution of these foods.




Meat product inoculation and sampling.

Samples of beef, pork, chicken, and salmon purchased from a local grocery store were aseptically sliced into small pieces, approximately 0.5 cm thick and 2 cm in diameter, and placed into sterile multiwell plates (Falcon; 353043). Each food slice was inoculated with 100 μL of diluted phi 6, MHV, and TGEV stock to provide 106 to 108 PFU or MPN IU per food piece. Food slices were allowed to air dry for approximately 10 min and then transferred to a sterile 50-mL conical bottom centrifuge tube. Triplicate sets of food samples (beef, chicken, pork, and salmon) were stored in 50-mL conical tubes at either 4°C or −20°C for 0, 3, 7, 14, and 30 days.

Coronaviruses and phages were dislodged from food pieces in the 50-mL conical tubes using 5 mL TSB. All samples were well mixed using a combination of vortex and rotary mixing for a total of 15 min to elute viruses off food surfaces. The recovered eluate was diluted serially 10-fold in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS).