Assessment of Food Safety During Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2, a novel Coronavirus that causes COVID-19 disease and the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 as a pandemic on March 11, 2020. Until now, foodborne or waterborne exposure to this virus has not been reported as the transmission route. However, the infected individual in the food production and service facility and, contaminated surfaces, may serve as the source of transmission route since Coronavirus can survive on the inanimate surfaces. Based on the available data, we reviewed the persistence of Coronaviruses on inanimate surfaces in the context of the food contact materials. Coronavirus persists on stainless steel, plastic and glass surfaces for a few days which are commonly used in food production and processing facilities. Therefore, appropriate food contact materials having fewer risk levels can be preferred. Additionally, using biocidal surfaces could help reduce the incidence of infections spread due to touching contaminated surfaces. In other parts of this review, appropriate inactivation procedures and ongoing food handling practices were explained. For prevention of virus transfer due to the contamination of food packaging material and also, food-handling by an infected person through food processing and serving, ongoing hygiene practices in food facilities should continue and inactivation procedures should be widened by taking into consideration the human Coronavirus and also, other foodborne viruses which have distinct properties compared to bacteria. Last of all, pandemics have impacts on the food supply chains, especially during harvest and logistics. Therefore, it is important to continue production and processing by raising awareness about food safety to ensure people in the food supply chain are not at risk of transmission.