Food Safety and COVID-19: Precautionary Measures to Limit the Spread of Coronavirus at Food Service and Retail Sector

Food Safety and COVID-19: Precautionary Measures to Limit the Spread of Coronavirus at Food Service and Retail Sector

Muhammad Bilal, Hafiz M. N. Iqbal, Muhammad Shahbaz, Abdul Moiz, Shagufta Zubair

Coronavirus pandemic has drastically upended the daily life routines of human beings and has widewide-ranging effects on entire sectors of society. The food sector is also susceptible and substantiallyharmed by the influence of intensive effects of coronavirus. To ensure food safety and limit the spreadof coronavirus at food services and retail sector has become a challenge where delicate and fresh fooditems are served and delivered to the customers, which have passed through a series of operationalsteps from order taking, food receiving, preparation of food, packing, delivery to customers. At eachstep, there is a possibility of food handlers to touch the food surface or food directly and if foodhandler is not following appropriate precautionary measures e.g. hand hygiene, sanitization anddisinfection, social distances, and is touching, then it can be a possible source of coronavirus spread.Since there is no evidence that food is a coronavirus transmission route but during the food operations,improper sanitization and disinfection of key touchpoints, food contact, nonfood contact, equipmentand cleaning tools surfaces and close contact of food handlers with staff and customers not only canput themselves on risk but can also be a risk for customers. Food services and the retail sector shouldmake sure proper hand hygiene, approved sanitizers and disinfectants in use, follow social distancesat workstations and while interacting with the customers. Finally, the business should be vigilantto monitor the temperature of staff and incoming guests to identify if there may any sick person toavoid from further spread of coronavirus and shall report to concerned health authorities if anyonesymptoms matching with COVID-19

2020

food safety, coronavirus, preventive measures, Personal Hygiene, sanitization, temperature monitoring, COVID-19, social distances

DOI: 10.22207/JPAM.14.SPL1.12

Journal of Pure and Applied Microbiology

Journal of Pure and Applied Microbiology

Microbiology