Jennifer Walker, 53, allegedly licked a cart full of groceries at Safeway in South Lake Tahoe Tuesday

A California woman has been arrested after she allegedly licked a cart full of groceries, sparking panic amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jennifer Walker, 53, was taken into custody and booked on suspicion of felony vandalism Tuesday, following the shocking incident which occurred inside a Safeway in South Lake Tahoe.

According to a grocery store clerk, White entered the premises Tuesday afternoon and promptly put numerous pieces of costume jewelry onto her hands.

She then began licking the jewels, which were for sale, before taking them off and placing them into her shopping cart.

Walker subsequently made her way through the aisles, running her tongue along a range of merchandise before dropping it into her cart.

Police were promptly called to the Safeway, where they found Walker with her cart full of jewelry, meats and alcohol - all of which she had reportedly licked.

The items totaled $1,800 and Walker was unable to pay for the products. They were subsequently thrown out due to fears of cross-contamination.

The incident allagedly occurred inside this Safeway store in South Lake Tahoe

While it's not believed Walker has COVID-19, her actions raised alarm amid the coronavirus pandemic

Walker was taken to El Dorado County Jail, where she is currently being held on a $10,000 bond.

She has no prior criminal record and has not explained why she allegedly licked the groceries.

While it's not believed Walker has COVID-19, her actions raised alarm amid the coronavirus pandemic. As of Wednesday, more than 400,000 Americans have tested positive to the highly-contagious virus. More than 14,000 have died.

In recent weeks, amid the pandemic, several other grocery stores in the US have had to dispose of produce after it was licked and coughed on by customers.

Last month, Gerrity's Supermarket in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania was forced to throw away $35,000 worth of food after a woman deliberately coughed over it in a twisted coronavirus prank.

The perpetrator allegedly coughed over the store's fresh produce, as well as a section of their bakery, meat case and other groceries, meaning employees had no choice but to throw everything out and clean the shelves.

Last month, Gerrity's Supermarket in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania was forced to throw away $35,000 worth of food after a woman deliberately coughed over it in a twisted coronavirus prank

Employees had to throw out produce and hose down the shelves amid fears the woman was infected with coronavirus

Meanwhile, a Missouri man was last month filmed licking bottles on a grocery store shelf in a video shared to social media.

The revolting clip saw the man saying, 'who's scared of coronavirus?', before running his tongue along the shelf.

In the short clip posted online, he can be seen bending down to lick the toiletry items on the shelf while looking at the camera.

Alongside the footage, the caption states: 'I'm a nasty motherf****r'.