London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 08, 2025

How safe are takeaways and supermarket deliveries?

There have been long queues as drive-through restaurants reopen, pubs have sold takeaway pints in the warm weather and supermarket deliveries remain elusive for many.

But what are the Covid-19 risks if you get a takeaway or a delivery?


What about takeaways?

Many local restaurants have reinvented themselves as takeaways.

Covid-19 is a respiratory illness; there is no evidence it can be spread via any food or food packaging. And reputable chains and good restaurant kitchens are most likely to be geared towards professional, hygienic food preparation, meaning there would be minimal risk from a freshly cooked takeaway meal.

With social distancing and extra hygiene measures in place, High Street chains - such as Pret a Manger - now offer customer takeaways and online delivery. Marks and Spencer has reopened 49 of its cafes for takeaway only.

Dozens of KFC outlets are reopening for either delivery or drive-through purchases - or both. McDonald's and Burger King have also reopened some drive-through restaurants - prompting long traffic queues.

Deliveroo and Just Eat have issued guidance on how their riders can stay safe and make food deliveries without touching restaurant packaging.


Should I eat with my hands?

If you get a takeaway delivery, the risk of packaging contamination can be minimised.

"Empty the contents [into a clean dish], dispose of the packaging into a refuse bag and wash your hands thoroughly before you eat," advises Prof Sally Bloomfield, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

"Take food out of a container with a spoon and eat it with a knife and fork - not your fingers."

It might be better in the current circumstances to order hot, freshly cooked food, rather than cold or raw items. The Food Standards Agency does stress the risk from food is low and "there is no reason to avoid having ready-to-eat food delivered if it has been prepared and handled properly".

For the most cautious and vulnerable though, careful preparation and cooking may be reassuring.

"With a pizza for example, if you wanted to be really safe, you could even pop it into the microwave for a couple of minutes," Prof Bloomfield adds.


What about takeaway drinks?

Some licensed premises - forced to shut because of the coronavirus restrictions - have continued to sell drinks to takeaway customers.

Pubs and bars should enforce social distancing and extra hygiene measures if they are open - such as making sure staff wear gloves when handling disposable cups.

It is legal to drink in public in the UK, except in areas where Public Space Protection Orders are in place. Local councils in Scotland set their own rules on when and where you can drink. But social distancing rules remain, and the police have powers to confiscate alcohol and move people on.


How safe are supermarket deliveries?

Delivery slots permitting, a home food drop is less risky than a trip to a supermarket as you will avoid other shoppers.

Any risk would be the possible contamination of food or packaging - handled by other people - or from the delivery driver.

You could leave a note on your door asking drivers to ring the bell and step back, but Prof Bloomfield says there's no such thing as "zero risk".

"For contained or packaged goods, either store them for 72 hours before using them - or spray and wipe plastic or glass containers with bleach [carefully diluted as directed on the bottle].

"For unwrapped fresh goods, which could have been handled by anyone - wash thoroughly under running water and leave to dry," she adds.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×