Safety: Safe Operations & Food Handling During COVID-19

Past Event

Wednesday April 29, 2020

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

Event 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.

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