Industries of the food sector have made a great effort to control SARS-CoV-2 indirect transmission, through objects or surfaces, by updating cleaning and disinfection protocols previously focused on inactivating other pathogens, as well as food spoilage microorganisms. The information, although scarce at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, has started to be sufficiently reliable to avoid over-conservative disinfection procedures. This work reviews the literature to propose a holistic view of the disinfection process where the decision variables, such as type and concentration of active substances, are optimised to guarantee the inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 and other usual pathogens and spoilage microorganisms while minimising possible side-effects on the environment and animal and human health.

27; Collection date 2021 Feb. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ). PMC Copyright notice PMCID: PMC7911259  PMID: 33572531 Abstract Industries of the food sector have made a great effort to control SARS-CoV-2 indirect transmission, through objects or surfaces, by updating cleaning and disinfection protocols previously focused on inactivating other pathogens, as well as food spoilage microorganisms. The information, although scarce at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, has started to be sufficiently reliable to avoid over-conservative disinfection procedures. This work reviews the literature to propose a holistic view of the disinfection process where the decision variables, such as type and concentration of active substances, are optimised to guarantee the inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 and other usual pathogens and spoilage microorganisms while minimising possible side-effects on the environment and animal and human health. Keywords: SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 pandemic, food industry, disinfection trade-offs, one-health 1. Introduction Efficient control of SARS-CoV-2 transmission is a high priority in the food industry. Food safety authorities agree that SARS-CoV-2, as other coronaviruses in previous outbreaks, is not transmitted through food consumption [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. However, respiratory viral diseases are commonly spread via fomites (indirect route of transmission through inanimate objects or surfaces) [ 4 , 5 ] and different studies have proven that SARS-CoV-2 is stable for several days on different surfaces commonly used in the food industry [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ]. The spread of the virus through this should be prevented by properly disinfecting and cleaning of the inanimate objects. The food industry has been implementing cleaning and disinfection measures to effec

Cleaning and Disinfecting: Best Practices During the COVID-19 Pandemic | US EPA Skip to main content Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Cleaning and Disinfecting: Best Practices During the COVID-19 Pandemic According to a new science brief from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the risk of catching COVID-19 by touching a contaminated surface is considered to be low. EPA’s new factsheet has cleaning and disinfecting best practices and tips you can use during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cleaning and Disinfecting: Best Practices During the COVID-19 Pandemic (pdf) (75.99 KB) Coronavirus and Disinfectants Contact Us About Coronavirus (COVID-19) and Disinfectants Contact Us About Coronavirus (COVID-19) and Disinfectants to ask a question, provide feedback, or report a problem. Last updated on July 17, 2026