When COVID-19 first emerged in early 2020, the world had more questions than answers. Driving much of the science behind New Zealand’s early pandemic response was the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR), where public health, surveillance and genetic sequencing teams worked to turn questions into clarity. And while the immediate crisis may have passed, the science, alongside the systems built on it, are more relevant than ever.
For New Zealand’s food industry – deeply connected to domestic and international markets – the alarm wasn’t just about the virus, but about how it might spread. Was food a risk? What about packaging? And how should the sector respond to protect people and preserve trust?
Looking back to move forward
In February 2020, ESR Senior Scientists Dr Joanne Kingsbury and Dr Rob Lake, working through the New Zealand Food Safety Science & Research Centre (NZFSSRC), were asked to assess a worrying unknown: Could COVID-19 be transmitted through food? ESR worked rapidly to assemble the information that the New Zealand food sector could use to inform overseas regulators and markets about the risk.
With little direct research available on SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) at the time, the team drew on existing knowledge from related coronaviruses, as well as the expertise of ESR virologists. Their report, released 16 March 2020, concluded there was little evidence that food or food packaging posed a transmission risk.
Additionally, their assessment of available research found standard cooking methods or heat treatments used in food processing—such as pasteurisation—are effective at inactivating the virus. Even if SARS-CoV-2 were to contaminate food and be consumed before heat inactivation, the study concluded the virus would be neutralised by stomach acid and bile salts.
Instead, the much greater threat came from airborne respiratory droplets.
That initial assessment, continuously updated as new data emerged, and made publicly available, was a valuable resource. Across seven updates over a two-year period, it helped inform national food safety policy, and gave exporters confidence that New Zealand’s food systems could continue operating safely.
Air, not food
While research showed SARS-CoV-2 could survive on certain foods and surfaces under lab conditions (especially at low temperatures), real-world studies confirmed what ESR’s team had initially predicted: food was not a major route of transmission.
Even when the virus was found on packaging or food, it was more likely to be residual non-infectious RNA, not viable virus particles. Add to that the fact normal cooking and digestion can destroy the virus, and the picture becomes clear – COVID-19 transmission was a threat through the air, not the food.
That distinction mattered, because it let the industry focus on the right things: worker personal protection, strong ventilation, and keeping workplace transmission low.
What this means today
The pandemic forced every industry to innovate fast. For food producers, that meant balancing biological risk with business continuity. ESR’s science gave the sector a foundation to do both—turning complexity into clarity.
Today, the lessons learned are being applied by ESR to broader food safety challenges:
- Detecting emerging pathogens
- Responding to global biosecurity threats
- Improving resilience across export systems
- Reinforcing public trust in New Zealand’s food brand
Find out more about ESR's food and product safety work
ESR provides the full spectrum of food science expertise, from identifying a foreign object in food through to food import and export certification.