Safety: Safe Operations & Food Handling During COVID-19
Safety: Safe Operations & Food Handling During COVID-19
Wednesday April 29, 2020 EST
Coronavirus necessitates new ways of working to keep employees and customers safe. From social distancing to hand washing and “A/B teaming,” there’s an entirely new set of best practices to implement in addition to all-important food safety practices. Hear from a panel of safety experts and frontline workers about the best ways to run your organization in these risky times.
Panelists
Su-Lin Terhell
Operations and Strategy Manager, Replate
Kevin Smith
Senior Advisor, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Dr. Ben Chapman, PhD
Professor and Food Safety Extension Specialist, North Carolina State University
Tracy Chang
Chef/Owner, Pagu
Webinar Resources
Key Takeaways
PREVENT PERSON-TO-PERSON TRANSMISSION
“We don’t have examples of food or food packaging leading to [COVID-19],” shared Ben. Our focus should therefore be on preventing person-to-person transmission. For that, CDC-recommended hand washing, social distancing, cloth face coverings and mask wearing, cough and sneeze catching, and cleaning and disinfecting are still best.
LABELING
Ben stressed the importance of allergen and temperature labeling, even as FDA has rightly relaxed labeling regulations to keep food moving through the chain. Tracy highlighted that she and Off Their Plate place allergen information on every meal they make for healthcare workers. As for temperature labels, it remains vital to include thawing instructions, storage temperatures, and safe minimum internal temperatures.