What makes a foodborne virus: comparing coronaviruses with human noroviruses

In order to answer the question whether coronaviruses (CoVs) can be transmitted via foods, this review made a comparison between CoVs with the most recognized foodborne virus, human noroviruses (NoVs). As a result, although CoVs indeed have shown the possibilities to remain infectious on foods and/or food packaging materials long enough (from several days to several weeks) to potentially cause transmission, they seem to be less persistent than NoVs towards common disinfection practices with alcohols, chlorine and ultraviolet (UV). More importantly, the chance of foodborne transmission of CoVs is considered low as CoVs mainly spread through the respiratory tract and there is no clear evidence showing CoVs can follow fecal-oral routes like human NoVs and other foodborne viruses.