A Multi-Stage Green Barrier Strategy for the Control of Global SARS-CoV-2 Transmission via Cold Chain Goods

Abstract

Recently, “Object to Human” transmission route of SARS-CoV-2 with cold chain food as the medium has been confirmed by the frequent occurrence of Covid-19 infected patients who are practitioners of global cold chain logistics. The effective disinfection for cold chain food is the key to cut off this transmission route. However, there are great challenges to achieve the goal, due to the extremely massive commodities involved in global cold chain logistics of food, and the need to conduct disinfection at the temperature below freezing point. To solve this problem, in this study, a system of multi-stage barriers for virus transmission is established by making targeted disinfection strategies for five key steps throughout the whole life cycle of cold chain food (i.e. cold chain processing, refrigerated warehouse storage, refrigerated transportation and distribution, refrigerated retail, post-consumption). Moreover, the comparison of various disinfection methods which can be applied in the system is made to clarify the green disinfection. Conclusively, the cumulative disinfection for cold chain food provided by this system will play an important role on the normalized epidemic prevention and control.

Inactivation of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus with electron beam irradiation under cold chain conditions

“…It is much harder to disinfect viruses under cold chain conditions than at room temperature. Heating cannot be used to inactivate viruses in cold chain logistics, and the effectiveness of chemical disinfectants is considerably reduced by the low temperatures needed for cold chains ( He et al, 2021 ). In addition, the shallow penetration of UV light limits its ability to disinfect viruses in frozen conditions ( Cockell et al, 2002 , Kühn et al, 2003 ).…”

“…Heating obviously cannot be applied in cold chain logistics. Commonly used chemical disinfectants are generally only effective at room temperature, and they tend to freeze when applied at temperatures below freezing, resulting in a decreased disinfection efficiency ( He et al, 2021 ). Moreover, most chemical disinfectants are toxic and odorous, and large-scale application will cause secondary contamination problems for cold chain products ( Lee et al, 2008 , Benítez et al, 2021 ).…”

Preliminary Study of Pulsed Ultraviolet Technology for Low-Temperature Disinfection

“…Temperature is one of the most important factors affecting the effectiveness of disinfection, and all commonly used disinfection techniques, whether chemical or physical, have a range of applicable temperatures. There are sometimes problems with disinfection in cold environments, especially as transmission of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from contaminated cold-chain shipments to humans has been listed as one of the possible transmission routes for the epidemic ( 1 - 2 ). Not only is it difficult to apply most physical disinfection methods at this time, but the commonly used chemical disinfectants freeze and are ineffective.…”

Stability of SARS-CoV-2 in cold-chain transportation environments and the efficacy of disinfection measures

“…These events strongly supported the perspective that the cold-chain environment could be the risk factor to maintain infection and transmission of SARS-CoV-2. (Chen et al, 2022;He et al, 2021;Huilai Ma1 and Ha, 2020;Liu et al, 2020). Therefore, the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 via cold-chain should not be neglected.…”

“…However, there is a lack of information on the decay rate of SARS-CoV-2 under different temperature conditions. Secondly, cold-chain goods had become the medium for SARS-CoV-2 transmission of the virus, which is unrealistic for prevention and transmission control by interrupting the international trade of cold-chain for a long time (He et al, 2021). Thus, the question of how to reduce the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in the cold-chain industry has become a challenge.…”