March 2020 Food Safety and Food Systems News
Food Industry Employment Program Newsletter
Food Safety First
Noncompliance=Death
Dear ,
I hope you and your loved ones are doing well.
March has been a crazy crazy month. I started the month full of optimism and hope for the future and now I am ending the month cloistering at home after a two weeks of social isolation.
Before the pandemic really struck the US, I managed to attend two conferences. The first was the local grain and malt event which filled me with hope and positivity about the local food movement and the desire to find local producers near my home town in NJ.
The second event was the National Good Food Leaders conference run by the Wallace Center. It was an excellent conference despite being clouded by worsening news about COVID-19. The conference ended up finishing early because the conference organizers couldn't guarantee social distancing would take place. I'm both glad they held the conference and closed it early. Being in New Orleans at that time was surreal.
Once I returned home I realized that I needed to socially isolate myself for two weeks because we have no idea who may or may not be COVID-19 positive. I do community service with seniors every month, and it was with a lot of sadness that I had to drop it for March. However, I found out that a couple of conference attendees had since been diagnosed with COVID-19 so I am very happy I made that decision.
I am lucky that I live near a historical cemetery which means I can have regular walks without bumping into anyone as it is fairly quiet there.
I am putting together a list of resources that I will share with you in April. Additionally I'll be sharing them throughout the month on my blog and my Facebook group.
Things you could be doing
If you haven't already, now is a great time to check your facilities health and personnel policies and update them. All food preparation facilities, whether food trucks, restaurants, or large manufacturers should have a health policy. Check yours and see if you need to add anything given the COVID-19 pandemic. You should be doing regular health checks with your employees and make sure you have written down what to do if you or one of your employees comes down with COVID-19.
Employees should be retrained on personnel hygiene and sick leave annually. So now would be a good opportunity while everyone is talking about washing hands and not touching faces. Refresh people’s memories while there is an urgent reason. This is true even though COVID-19 is probably not spread by food and not a huge foodborne illness risk like Norovirus or Salmonella.
Check your sanitation master plan is cleaning and sanitizing food contact surfaces correctly.
Are any of your ingredients likely to be affected by supply chain shortages? Perhaps think about reworking your recipes just in case.
There are opportunities to help anti hunger nonprofits and schools with food supply, especially if you have excess food stock you cannot use.
Need to chat?
While COVID-19 may not be spread via food, one thing for certain in response to this pandemic is that safety and health standards will be elevated with more emphasis on how we practice sanitation and hygiene. Now more than ever you need to be installing and adhering to strict food safety plans and protocols. You do not want to risk your business by not being up to code. Click here to schedule a food safety call and we can chat about what you can do right away to ensure you are in full compliance.
All the best,
Cathy