Airtight packaging:

The coronaviruses are spread through the air and physical contact with the affected person. The first thing we can do about the packaging is to design it in a way that it folds into an airtight box for food. Not just for takeaway food packaging, but also for home deliveries too. Since it might occur that there were some suspended hydrous infected particles in the way somewhere on the route. There are tremendous chances that those particles might enter the packaging and contaminate the food with the virus.

And in the process, it might cause some very severe health problems to the consumer. There are chances that the delivery guy is also infected. Hence, the risk is high that the virus might be delivered from him to the food. Therefore, it is necessary to block all the routes on the packaging that leads to food. Air-tightening does not mean the box must be made from some very specialized material; the regular cardboard and kraft paper are sufficient. It is more about the design of the packaging.

Cleanable surface:

The next step follows, making the outer surface of the box cleanable. The moment we are sure that no microbes can cross the walls of our food box due to our intelligent design, we can move to the next step. The regular cardboard or kraft paper material that is used to make the food boxes can be finished in a way that it can be wiped with alcohol or any other safe disinfectant. Its outer surface can be waxed or laminated in order to make it resistant to liquids so that even if the food packaging gets infected from the outside on its way to the consumer, it can be cleaned before the packaging is opened. The lamination or wax can be made out of biodegradable materials so that they do not affect the eco-friendliness of the paper-based packaging materials. This is a great idea, especially for fast food packaging.

Include alcohol pads:

This may sound a little unconventional, but as the circumstances prevail, they must be really considered. We simply cannot expect a consumer to have access to all the sanitizing logistics every time he wants to enjoy the home-delivered food.

Therefore, for the packaging of food, an additional alcohol pad can be added to the food box. They do not cost much, and if someone thinks they are going to be a surplus expenditure, they should also reconsider all those free ketchup sachets they just give away with several food items. It shall allow the users to have something to disinfect the outer surface of the packaging that comes with the food. This shall be a complete end-to-end solution to counter most of the microbes that might get attached to the food packaging on its way to the consumer. Hence, maintaining a healthy method of packaging food.

Better insulation:

Another thing about most microorganisms is that they get destroyed at a higher temperature. When the food comes outside the oven, it is free from nearly all the harmful microbes. It is due to the temperature of the food that all harmful bacteria and viruses are destroyed. If somehow, that temperature can be maintained till the time the food reaches the customer, it would be entirely safe to consume. In the previous passages, we talked about ways to keep the packaging clean from the outside. Now we are talking about food safety. If the packaging of the food comes with sufficient insulation, it would be able to maintain the temperature; and it would kill all the microbes that might reach it during the delivery process. Although the air-tightening feature was sufficient in keeping the contaminations outside, we never know what might get us to the hospital. Therefore, the addition of thermal insulation to the hot food packaging can be the insurance to keep germs out.

These measures are quite achievable for food packaging. Achieving these features does not mean that we have to use materials that are not appropriate for our planet. They can be achieved with the good old biodegradable food packaging materials.