key: cord-1038116-ia1lonqm authors: Nakat, Zeina; Bou-Mitri, Christelle title: COVID-19 and the food industry: Readiness assessment date: 2020-09-29 journal: Food Control DOI: 10.1016/j.foodcont.2020.107661 sha: e5b860e9e6cc6704a684a265ee264b5e2c8c1315 doc_id: 1038116 cord_uid: ia1lonqm The COVID-19 pandemic has hit hard on the world economy and global health. Where most businesses are completely closed following governments restrictions, the food sector across the supply chain must remain operational in order to feed the nations. In such a challenging time, keeping the workers healthy and safe is critical while maintaining a high level of food safety and consumer confidence. Against a backdrop of heightened uncertainty, up-to-date and reliable information is more important than ever, both for regulators and this sector. This literature review aims at assembling all current knowledge about COVID-19 and its impact on the food industry. It is an exhaustive compilation of relevant public information and guidance published by the World Health Organization (WHO), and collected from 11 governmental and 10 non-governmental sources as well as 25 peer-reviewed articles published in scientific journals since the beginning of the crisis till June 5th, 2020. This paper could be of assistance to educators, researchers, and policy makers. It could also serve as an assessment tool to ensure business continuity and to determine the level of food industry readiness providing reassurance to all stakeholders during these unprecedented times. Literature review was carried out to critically compile all the available guidance on the measures 121 to be followed by the food industry during COVID-19 pandemic. Content analysis on the 122 reviewed material was evaluated to classify the publication content, evaluate the content, and 123 delimit the field. All the relevant professional websites including; 11 governmental, 10 non-124 governmental and the WHO, were used in this paper (Table 1) . Journal databases including 125 PubMed, Elsevier, Wiley Online, Emerald, Springer, and Taylor & Francis were also screened. 126 Literature published between the emergence of the virus till June 5 th were considered in this 127 paper. 128 The following key phrases were used in the search: COVID-19 (coronavirus) and food safety, (Table 2) . Overall, a rapid rising number of published studies related to COVID-19 and 135 food industry, food safety, supply chain and demand, food security were observed. This indicates 136 that the topic is a pressing priority and accelerated research is needed for better addressing this to 72 h on hard surfaces such as steel and plastics; there is still no evidence that contaminated 157 packages, which have been exposed to different environmental conditions and temperatures, 158 transmit the infection (Yannas, 2020) . Nonetheless, to address concerns that virus present on the 159 skin might be able to transfer to the respiratory system (e.g. by touching the face), persons 160 handling packaging, should adhere to good hygiene practices, including regular and effective 161 hand-washing (Yannas, 2020) . Studies have reported that SARS-CoV-2 behavior is similar to 162 SARS-CoV and MERS coronaviruses, and thus is highly stable at refrigeration temperature of 163 4°C, and is expected to remain infectious at freezing temperature of -20°C for up to 2 years 164 (WHO, 2020c). In addition, cooking the food at 63°C for 4 min showed to reduce contamination 165 J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f of a food product by SARS-CoV-2 by a factor of 1000, according to the French Agency for 166 Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES, 2020). 167 Thus, it is more likely that an infected food worker will spread the virus through person-to-168 person transmission rather than contaminated food or food packaging material. COVID-19 is an 169 issue of occupational safety and protecting employee health rather than food contamination 170 (OSHA, 2020a). Current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) and hygiene rules already govern the production 172 of food, and their implementation is subject to regulatory controls. In fact, the hygiene controls 173 implemented by food businesses are designed to prevent the contamination of food by any 174 pathogen, and will therefore also aim at preventing contamination of the food by the SARS- were grouped in workers' medical condition (e.g., stay home if sick), personal hygiene (e.g., 181 wash hands), disinfection of surfaces, clean working environments, food preparation and 182 delivery, and finally social distancing. It was also suggested that towards the last stages of 183 productions, more safety measures are needed since more people are involved in the process. According to the CDC (2020e), employees at higher risk are those above 65 years of age or those 245 suffering from a chronic illness (kidney disease, heart disease, hypertension, lung disease, 246 diabetes, and asthma). Policies and procedures addressing issues related to workers at higher The WHO stresses that disposable gloves should never be used as a substitute for hand washing. not recommend using these methods to apply disinfectants because it hasn't reviewed any data 462 on whether the product is safe and effective when used by those methods (EPA, 2020a,b) . It was reported that consumer purchasing behavior changed and was dominated by income 507 effects, the opportunity cost of time and longer planning horizon (Canfield, 2020). Consumption 508 patterns have also moved from eating away from home to meals prepared and consumed at 509 home. In Canada, it was estimated that almost 30% of the food dollar have been spent on food 510 away from home have shifted to retail groceries (Goddard, 2020) . Consumer also experienced 511 buying shock or panic buying behaviors and hoarding of staple food items (Hobbs, 2020) . The circulation of goods between countries was disrupted; accordingly, import of raw 513 ingredients and exportation of food products was halted (COVID-19 impacts, 2020). Most of the 514 industries had to go into research and development, reformulation and search for local suppliers. The pandemic could have an effect on certain food commodities more than others, yet it is 516 expected to significantly alter trade restriction policies, which may take the form of more costly Table 3 . Possible measures to maintain physical distancing in the food industry. • Cleaning hands before entering the uniform area. • Minimizing touching non-selected uniforms and hangers. • Placing the empty hanger on a different rack to avoid the hanger touching clean uniforms and to avoid other employees touching it. • Separating soiled uniforms and clean ones. • Encouraging single-file movement with a 1 to 2 m distance between each worker through the facility. • Designating workers to monitor and facilitate distancing on processing floor lines. • Staggering workstations on either side of processing lines so that food workers are not facing one another. • Spacing out workstations, which may require reduction in the speed of production lines. • Providing visual cues (e.g., floor markings, signs) as a reminder to workers to maintain physical distancing. • Staggering employee shifts. • Limiting the number of staff in a food preparation area at any one time. • Stretching the shift duration with a smaller number of staff to avoid crowd (at the same time evaluate overtime demands -people who are worn down are more likely to get sick). • Using physical barriers, such as strip curtains, plexiglass, or partitions, to separate workers from each other, (watch for any risk of physical hazard). • Organizing staff into working groups or teams to facilitate reduced interaction between groups (cohorting). • Discouraging non-essential communication between employees on the production floor due to the noise level to reduce the occurrences of close contact and adopt alternate communication practices like phone and email for essential communication. • Using video apps or phone calls to prevent face-to-face contact during shift change. • Using texting, chats, free conference calling to bring teams together remotely. • Assigning pens, knives, clipboards, utensils, to individuals to minimize multiple person contact, • Reducing distance is considered possible when staff is dressed in PPE. 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WHO (2020c) IDFA Encouraging workers to avoid carpooling and public transportation to and from work. • Limiting the number of people per vehicle. • Increasing the number of used vehicles • Encouraging employees to use hand hygiene before entering the vehicle and when arriving at destination • Encouraging employees in a shared vehicle to wear masks • Cleaning and disinfecting commonly touched surfaces after each carpool or shuttle trip (e.g., door handles, handrails, seatbelt buckles) Encouraging employees to follow coughing and sneezing etiquette when in the vehicle Receiving and Delivery Activities • Limiting to one driver in the vehicle when possible. • Reducing or eliminating contact between the truck driver and the facility. • Advising truck drivers to stay outside the facility and/or in their trucks Wrapping packaged raw materials with shrink wrap and limiting touching of shrink wrap to receiving personnel, and not to production personnel Ensuring receiving and delivery employees to wash hands or disinfect their hands before and after unloading each truck Using face masks if physical distancing cannot be practiced. • Minimizing shared pens to sign transport documents Using disposable containers and packaging to avoid the need for cleaning of any returns. • Implementing appropriate hygiene and sanitation protocols in the case of reusable containers