• Food Safety and Covid-19

    COVID-19 has increased the need for food safety sanitation practices.
    Facilities will need to focus on what matters most for food safety and employee safety. Companies need to work in conjunction with and supported by other programs like Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) and Standard Sanitation Operating Procedures (SSOPs) for both food safety and employee safety.

    Request Food Safety Consultation Sponsor Food Companies

Covid-19 and Operation Adjustments for Food Companies

Food Safety during the Covid-19 pandemic is crucial. Proper food safety helps ensure proper employee health and also a robust and safe food supply for the consumer. The impact of improper food safety can be significant during a pandemic.

Many companies are transitioning their business model and operations in order to stay functional. Examples include:

+ Restaurants transitioning from in service to retail online
+ USDA slaughter houses implementing greater social distancing
+ Fisheries transitioning from sales to restaurants to home deliveries and retail.
+ Distributors adjusting channels and routes while continuing to track proper food safety logs.
+ And more…

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Why Food Safety Matters During Covid-19

Over the last few months all of our lives have changed, from how we work to how we live and how we are doing business. We all need to work with our strengths and existing best practices. We are still learning about the epidemiology of the Covid-
19, but we can put practices in place to protect companies and employees. Don’t be afraid to ask questions of your consultants or local departments of public health.
If you have questions communicate with public health and management and the
local hospital system.

On February 11, 2020 the World Health Organization announced an official name forthe disease that is causing the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak, first identified in Wuhan China. The new name of this disease is coronavirus disease 2019, abbreviated as COVID-19. In COVID-19, ‘CO’ stands for ‘corona,’ ‘VI’ for ‘virus,’ and ‘D’ for disease. Formerly, this disease was referred to as “2019 novel coronavirus” or “2019-nCoV”.

“There are many types of human coronaviruses including some that commonly causemild upper-respiratory tract illnesses. COVID-19 is a new disease, caused be a novel (or new) coronavirus that has not previously been seen in humans. The name of this disease was selected following the World Health Organization (WHO) for naming of new human infectious diseases. –CDC.gov“

“While there is no published evidence of contracting the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from touching food or food packaging that came in contact with the virus due to coughing or sneezing from an infected person, the virus causing COVID-19 can survive on surfaces and objects for a certain amount of time.” -www.hsph.harvard.edu

It may be possible that a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object, like a packaging container, that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes, but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.In general, because of poor survivability of these coronaviruses on surfaces, there it is likely very low risk of spread from food products or packaging but human to human transmission is a real issue especially if we are close together and not using PPE. Facilities should immediately develop and implement an infection control plan to address necessary strategies to protect employees while maintaining continuity of operations.

Areas of Focus:

  • Screen Employees

  • Testing for COVID-19

  • Health and Safety Committee

  • Social Distancing and Other Administrative Controls

  • Personal Protective Equipment

  • Cleaning, Disinfecting, and Sanitizing

  • Education

How Does ConnectFood Help?

ConnectFood has programs available for implementation of plans. We are working to minimize the risk of food safety hazards along with any risk to employees. Documentation of what is occurring in our facilities is the most important aspect of what we are doing to prevent the spread of Covid-19. You know the facility as well as anyone and finding the ways to protect your employees is a team effort. Innovation comes out of times such as these and we will continue to manufacture safe food and keeping our employees safe. “Basics Done Well”, asking questions and making sure employees are not ill is the best way to stop the spread

On multiple occasions ConnectFood has worked with
manufacturers, local public health and hospitals to address the potential spread. The food industry is essential and arguably the most essential. We encourage you to embrace your job and make suggestions as employees about how to make the
facility safer.

Food Companies and Establishments

We assist food companies quickly establish improved documentation, employee education, and food safety implementation.

  • SOP Library and Free GMP Self-Audit

    ConnectFood’s software has a library of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for Employee Health, Personal Hygiene, Sanitation, and more. The software provides free self-audit of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs)

  • Digital Logs and Records for Employee Health

    ConnectFood provides digital logs for Employee Forehead Temperature Scanning, Hygiene, Sanitation, and more.

  • 10% Price Reduction of Professional Services

    There are two options to use ConnectFood. 1. “Do-It-Yourself” Software Services or 2. “We-Write-For-You” Professional Services. All of our food safety / HACCP plan, GMP, SOP, and Recall Plan writing services are reduced in cost to further assist companies financially.

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Government, Retailers, Distributors, Associations

There are several ways to sponsor food companies in your government jurisdiction, distribution supply chain, and/or association member list.

  • Sponsor Food Companies and Establishments

    Financially sponsor companies in your jurisdiction, association, and supply chains to improve their food safety programs to help increase employee safety, consumer safety, and maintain a robust food supply.

  • Promote the Food Safety Initiative

    Leverage your communication channels to bring awareness of the resources provided by this initiative. Insert this link into blogs, social media channels, and public relation postings.

  • Help Companies in Transition

    Especially those companies in ‘transition’ from selling onsite to online or companies quickly scaling production to meet the increase demand for food. Transitions can create new food safety gaps. Sponsor your food companies to avoid an increase in foodborne illness during food processing transitions.

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