A sample of frozen chicken wings imported from Brazil has tested positive for the novel coronavirus in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, said authorities on Thursday, the latest in a series of reports of contaminated imported food products.
The virus was detected Wednesday on a surface sample taken from a batch of chicken wings during screening of imported frozen food in Longgang district of Shenzhen, the municipal government said in a statement.
Officials did not name the brand.
Health authorities, including the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), have said the possibility of catching the virus through food is low.
The WHO says it is “highly unlikely that people can contract Covid-19 from food or food packaging.”
“There is no evidence to date of viruses that cause respiratory illnesses being transmitted via food or food packaging. Coronaviruses cannot multiply in food; they need an animal or human host to multiply,” says the WHO.
