As the coronavirus continues to spread, restaurants across the country are shutting their doors to dine-in customers (and sometimes being forced to do so). Every place from P.F. Changs to Chipotle is sending out emails to patrons offering free delivery and ensuring guests that they are taking proper precautions to adhere to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention coronavirus containment guidelines. Postmates and DoorDash are offering contactless drop-off options and lower delivery fees. And grocery stores are continuously restocking their shelves.

But in this moment of social distancing and other anti-transmission precautions, what types of food precautions should we be following? Is takeout safe to order?

Thus far, experts have said there isnt any reason to believe the coronavirus can be spread through food. But what about the containers and bags that takeout enters our homes in?

Nonetheless, we still need to be cautious because all of these viruses can mutate. And what we say today may be different tomorrow, said Jeff Nelken , a food safety expert in Woodland Hills, California.

HuffPost surveyed a team of food safety experts to find out how to safely eat in the face of the coronavirus crisis. Long story short: Even if your food or containers arent infected with the coronavirus, eating food that hasnt been prepared or transported properly can put you at risk of weakening your immune system. Heres what to watch out for.

If youre ordering takeout, stick with restaurants you know and trust

Now is not the time to take a chance on a new spot, Nelken said. When asked if he would personally order takeout at the moment, he replied, It depends where Im ordering from.

Nelken said in times like these, its important to have a sense of familiarity with a restaurant and to feel safe about its sanitation practices. Is this is a place youve gone to before and you know what youre getting yourself into, as opposed to going into a facility that you know nothing about? he asked. For the time being, he recommended ordering from your typical go-to places.

Its like going to a doctor. Would you go to any doctor if you didnt feel well? No. You would most probably look up doctors, what they specialize in, and what their history is and what their certifications are, he said.

Check out their history

Nelken stressed that you need to research a place before placing an order. Customers can look up a restaurants previous health inspection report to get an idea of how seriously it takes hygiene and safety. If youre in Los Angeles, for example, you can go to the LA County Health Department [website] and they have the restaurant inspection reports. Type in the name of the facility and you can look at the last inspection reports and see what kind of violations did they receive, he said.

Nelken also suggested taking a visual inventory when you pop in to pick up your takeout. Watch how people are working and that theyre wearing gloves and theyre taking the gloves off and sanitizing and keeping their work areas clean/organized, he said.

Make sure your food is fresh

Jagdish Khubchandani , a health science professor at Indianas Ball State University who has studied the impact of viral outbreaks like SARS, said its important to pay extra attention to how fresh your food is.

If I go order fries and they made them two hours ago and they have been staying at room temperature, then its dangerous to eat them, he said, deeming the danger zone as 40 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit.

When food is at room temperature, then you cannot trust that food, he explained, because bacteria grows most rapidly between those temperatures.

Khubchandani said exposing yourself to bacteria can weaken your immune system, and now is not the time to do that. If youre picking up takeout, he suggested asking when the food was made.