“The results will be of great significance for disinfecting imported cold food and preventing virus infections during big international sports events.”

Preparations for the tests began in December after a number of coronavirus cases were linked to the packaging of imported frozen food, CNNC said.

Over the past three months, the researchers had conducted irradiation experiments on two types of simulated coronavirus, and the results showed that a small amount of radiation could kill the pathogens without affecting food safety, it said.

The agency said last month that the reports of the virus being detected on food and packaging mostly focused on its genetic fingerprint rather than evidence it had been transmitted to people.

Coronavirus: living samples found on frozen food packaging in China, CDC says

The CNNC said radiation technology had been widely used in disinfecting and sterilising medical supplies. More than 40 per cent of medical supplies are disinfected by irradiation in Europe and the US, but in China the figure was only about 10 per cent, it said.

China started using radiation technology to disinfect disposable medical protective clothing last year as it was less time consuming than the traditional process of using ethylene oxide, which takes up to two weeks.

During the pandemic, the main technologies that had been used for preventing the coronavirus from contaminating food were chemical and ultraviolet disinfection, though the former could leave chemical residues on food and the latter worked only on food packaging with a flat surface, the CNNC said.

By comparison, irradiation could disinfect the interior and exterior part of food, it said.