Covid-19, food safety, worker and population health. TheFood and Agriculture Organization (FAO) andWorld Health Organization (WHO) interim guidelines, published 7.4.20, indicate the criteria to be followed at the planetary level. ABC to follow.
Covid-19 and human activities, a paradigm shift
The Covid-19 pandemic forces a paradigm shift. In the face of a highly transmissible virus still lacking effective vaccines and drug therapies, it is imperative to reorganize human activities for the specific purpose of mitigating the risks of contagion. In a perspective that inevitably leans toward the medium and long term.
The agribusiness supply chain and its functional sectors (e.g., machinery, chemical and seed industries, veterinary drugs, packaging materials, logistics, analytical laboratories, and professionals) are involved at the forefront of managing essential activities. And it is everyone’s responsibility to ensure food safety for their respective phases. As well as that of plants, feeds, materials and objects intended to come into contact with food.
Food safety and worker health, FAO and WHO guidelines
FAO and WHO published on 7.4.20, an interim guideline aimed at food chain operators. ‘COVID-19 and food safety: guidance for food businesses‘. (1) This paper follows up on previous Food and Agriculture Organization recommendations on the need to ensure that populations have the continuity of supplies essential to ensure varied and balanced diets. (2)
The aim of the guidelines is to take stock of the ‘additional measures‘ that operators must apply to ensure the integrity of the food supply chain and the safety of products. Having regard to elements of risk that we in turn have already highlighted. Repetita iuvant.
Transmission risks and measures to be taken
Transmission of the new coronavirus takes place mainly by direct interpersonal contact through respiratory droplets. Respiratory secretions that can spread within a couple of meters of the infected person.
▶️ Safe distances between people.
▶️ Use of disposable masks, gowns and gloves (or subject to disinfection before reuse).
▶️ Respiratory hygiene. ‘Cover mouth/nose when coughing/sneezing, immediate and proper disposal of tissues used to dry mouth/nose/eyes‘.
Persistence on the surfaces of SARS-CoV2 was in turn demonstrated by special laboratory tests. The virus can maintain viability for up to 24 hours on cardboard, 72 hours – 3 days (!) – on plastic and stainless steel. (3)
▶️ Sanitizing surfaces, work tools and objects (including smartphones and other devices).
▶️ Frequent cleaning/disinfection of ‘contact points’ (e.g. handles, keys, push buttons, knife handles, etc.).
▶️ Physical removal of all equipment and tools not essential to production.
Sars-CoV-2 can also be transmitted via the fecal-oral route, as has already been established. (4) And it could also be transmitted by aerosol, via droplet nuclei, to even greater distances (5,6).
▶️ Frequent sanitation of bathrooms, dedicated bathrooms for the public and visitors.
▶️ Ventilation of rooms, frequent sanitization of those without air lights (e.g., elevators).
▶️ Regular disinfection of air conditioning filters.
Specific measures for food hygiene and MOCAs
Organizations operating in the food supply chain must also implement enhanced hygiene measures to prevent the risk of food and MOCA (Food Contact Materials and Objects) contamination.
▶️ Do not touch your mouth, nose or eyes before washing your hands or when handling food.
▶️ Frequent washing/sanitizing of utensils and food-contact items (e.g. ladles, tongs and holders for condiments or other bulk foods also found in the deli, delicatessen, bakery departments etc.).
How to prevent the spread of COVID-19 within the food enterprise?
Clear and effective training and information on the above measures.
▶️ All workers working in the food enterprise (direct and indirect food handlers but also cleaners, maintenance workers, delivery workers, inspectors, clerks and anyone else who may come into even occasional contact with food matrices or food-contact surfaces, or otherwise have access to areas where food is handled) must be informed about:
– Hygienic measures to be strictly adhered to,
– symptoms (respiratory and gastrointestinal, see 4) that result in duty of disclosure and prohibition of access to work environments. (7)
Symptoms and risk of infection
Asymptomatic and presymptomatic COVID-19-positive individuals can also infect other people and their surroundings (8,9). Therefore, it is imperative to immediately resort to appropriate testing when suspected. Not only can anyone who is infected not perform work, but anyone who is unwell, with symptoms that can be correlated with those of Covid-19, should immediately leave the workplace by alerting the competent physician.
All supply chain operators must establish appropriate procedures for handling cases of symptoms and illness of personnel.
Social distancing in work environments
Social distancing must also be encouraged in workplaces by appropriate measures. Based on an analysis of the risks of non-compliance with interpersonal safety distances, taking into account the locations, times and working conditions.
▶️ Spacing and staggering work stations so that one worker is never in front of another.
▶️ Indicate the routes to be followed by staff within the premises, including visual signs on the floor, to avoid crossings/clustering and facilitate cleaning and sanitizing operations.
▶️ Limit a priori the number of people who can be in a work area at one time (organizing individual activities into small groups where possible to reduce interhuman interaction).
Refreshment and break places must come under similar attention. Indoor canteens must provide only essential services and allow for maintaining-even through shifts-a physical distance of at least 1 meter (better 2) between individuals. With visual, if appropriate verbal reminders of proper hand hygiene and adherence to distances.
Distribution, public establishments, premises and spaces open to the public and/or outside parties
All organizations where physical interaction with members of the public and/or external parties (suppliers and customers, professionals and other visitors, including maintenance and cleaning workers and transporters) is expected must integrate self-control measures as follows.
A) Basic precautions:
▶️ Obligatory signs to maintain safe interpersonal distances (not less than 1 meter, in Italy).
▶️ Contain access and attendance within the premises to prevent any possible gathering.
▶️ Encourage theuse of masks, gloves and hand sanitizers.
B) Additional measures, to be considered on a case-by-case basis:
▶️ Measure the body temperature of incoming people.
▶️ Apply signs, on floors and in busy places, to encourage compliance with interpersonal safety distances.
▶️ Define mandatory routes and where appropriate separate rooms, including by means of removable obstacles, to demarcate areas (and surfaces) exposed to contamination risks.
▶️ Install barriers (e.g., plexiglass in front of checkouts and counters, controlled entrances), to protect staff.
▶️ Encourage (including through discounts, albeit token ones) cashless (cashless) payments. (10)
▶️ Incentivize the sanitization with predetermined frequency of the handles of carts, baskets, display equipment (refrigerated counters, freezers, shelves) and other surfaces intended for multiple physical contact (e.g., “the turnstiles, badge boxes for recording attendance, elevator buttons, cash registers and counters).
▶️ Advise consumers about the desirability of proper hygiene when handling food after purchase (washing hands and the food itself, where appropriate).
Logistics
Logistics is an extremely critical step-in both areas of transportation between operators and home delivery of food-faced with the risks of COVID-19 transmission by direct contact or through surfaces. These risks, which have never (or very rarely) been considered so far in the agribusiness sector, must therefore be analyzed and mitigated through the introduction of appropriate measures.
▶️ Protect food (by individual packaging or outer packaging, as appropriate, as far as possible).
▶️ Do not make drivers get out of their vehicles unless essential. Do not have vehicles left unattended during delivery. Avoid where possible direct contact with the consumer in the case of food delivery (delivery in front of the door, remote payment when ordering).
▶️ Advise transporters of their due compliance, including with the hygienic measures mentioned in the introduction (see. supra, paragraph Transmission risks and measures to be taken). Safety distances, hand washing and use of masks first and foremost, before food delivery.
▶️ Containers and packaging, (including rigid rider bags) must be sanitized regularly, in case of reuse
Cogency of rules and public controls
The rules described above may at first glance appear generic. It doesn’t. In fact, the general (and not generic) principles expressed in the guidelines under review express the mandatory conditions that each operator must ensure within its own organization (and the activities conducted for it even outside). Applying the principle of integrated supply chain responsibility (EC Reg. 178/02, Article 17), according to which each operator must fully and effectively implement the general criteria established for food safety. As well as regulations to ensure the health and safety of workers.
The general criteria must therefore be adapted to the specific conditions of the organization (processes and products and/or services, infrastructure and working tools, training and procedures, personnel and external parties involved). And the supervisory authorities, i.e., specially delegated individuals, will have to verify the suitability of the resources used against the objectives set. Applying where appropriate warnings (i.e., prescriptions), sanctions and other measures (including suspension of activities and licenses).
Good hygiene practices and HACCP reveal their crucial essence now more than ever. Not abstract bureaucracy but concrete prevention.
Official public controls on food and feed supply chains, reg. EU 2020/466
Some member states have tried to provide initial guidelines on how to manage emerging food safety and worker health risks related to the Covid-19 emergency. Of note in this regard is the excellent guiding work carried out in Italy by Azienda ULSS N. 7 Pedemontana, in the Veneto region.
Member states have also reported to the Commission-as a result of restrictions on the movement of people-their inability to deploy adequate personnel to official controls and other activities under Reg. EU 2017/625(Official Controls Regulation, OCR). The European Commission then adopted-due to urgent and duly justified imperative needs (under EU Reg. 2017/625, Article 141(1) and (3)-an implementing regulation with immediate application.
Regulation (EU) 2020/466, as noted above, introduced some measures derogating from the Regulation on official controls. Temporary measures – from 31.3 to 1.6.20, subject to extensions, (not planned but foreseeable) – ‘and coordinated‘. With the benefit of the doubt, as there is no record of any authority prepared to handle emergencies such as this one, either in the 27 member states or in Brussels.
The aim is to contain widespread health risks in areas covered by Regulation (EU) 2017/625. Food and feed safety, animal and plant health and welfare, quality schemes in the agri-food sector (organic, geographical indications), and information to consumers and supply chain operators. Introducing a number of exceptions, ‘by way of exception,’ to OCR.
The ‘necessary temporary measures‘ that member state authorities may take to ensure levels of public health and support the functioning of the internal market, if they are in a state of contingency/urgency or necessity, take the form of the possibilities of:
– Delegate some official control activities and others to experts outside the ranks of competent authorities to carry out official control activities, subject to certain conditions, (12)
– Entrusting analyses, tests or diagnoses to laboratories other than official laboratories when official laboratories are unable to do so,
– Use the available remote communication tools to perform the official control methods and techniques established in OCR (reg. EU 2017/625, Article 14),
– certify and attest ‘on an electronic copy‘ processed and transmitted in TRACES(TRAde Control and Expert System), as long as it is ensured that the original ‘will be transmitted as soon as technically feasible.’
In the event of the adoption of one or more of the exceptional measures described above, Member States must in all cases notify the Commission and other Member States.
Dario Dongo, Amaranta Traversa, Claudio Biglia, Alfonso Piscopo
Notes
(1) FAO (2020). COVID-19 and food safety: guidance for food businesses. Interim guidance. 7.4.20, https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/331705/WHO-2019-nCoV-Food_Safety-2020.1-eng.pdf
(2) FAO (2020).
Maintaining a healthy diet during the COVID-19 pandemic.
, https://doi.org/10.4060/ca8380en
(3) van Doremalen N, Bushmaker T, Morris DH et al. Aerosol and Surface Stability of SARS-CoV-2 as Compared with SARS-CoV-1. N Engl J Med. 2020 Mar 17. doi: 10.1056/NEJMc2004973
(4) Gu J, Han B, Wang J.
COVID-19: Gastrointestinal Manifestations and Potential Fecal-Oral Transmission.
. Gastroenterology. 2020;. doi:10.1053/j.gastro.2020.02.054
(5) Wang Zhou. The Coronavirus prevention handbook: 101 science-based tips that could save your life. 2020; ISBN13: 9781510762411
(6) Lei H, Li Y, Xiao S, et al. Routes of transmission of influenza A H1N1, SARS CoV, and norovirus in air cabin: Comparative analyses. Indoor Air. 2018;28(3):394-403. doi:10.1111/ina.12445
(7)
Protocol 14.3.20 on containment measures in workplaces.
, see https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/sicurezza/coronavirus-misure-di-contenimento-negli-ambienti-di-lavoro-protocollo-14-3-20 See. Presidential Decree 327/80, Article 41, paragraph 2,3
(8) Pan X, Chen D, Xia Y et al.
Asymptomatic cases in a family cluster with SARS-CoV-2 infection.
. Lancet Infect Dis 2020 doi : 10.1016/ S1473- 3099(20)30114-6
(9) Tong Z-D, Tang A, Li K-F, Li P, Wang H-L, Yi J- P, et al. Potential presymptomatic transmission of SARS-CoV-2, Zhejiang Province, China, 2020. Emerg Infect Dis. 2020 doi : 10.3201/eid2605.200198
(10) The Ministry of Innovation should also propose to the relevant departments the dematerialization of transport documents and their contactless endorsement, to mitigate the risk of virus transmission through direct contact between transporters and employees
(11)
Workers’ safety and employers’ liability.
, see https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/sicurezza/covid-19-sicurezza-dei-lavoratori-e-responsabilità
(12) The conditions for the delegation of official controls and other activities are:
-competence of the delegate with respect to the tasks to be performed,
-The absence of conflict of interest,
-Formal and specific delegation,
-continuous contact with the competent authority,
-rigorous compliance with the given procedures,
-impartiality.
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
Veterinarian, specialist in the inspection of food of animal origin. He participates in several research projects in food safety and microbiology. She co-authored numerous monographs on food safety and over thirty scientific publications.
Veterinary surgeon, specializing in the inspection of food of animal origin. Since 1982 he has been a public veterinarian, since 1990 he has taught at the Universities of Turin and Teramo. He is the author of over seventy scientific publications and co-author of various texts on microbiology, radiocontamination of food, surveillance, health and food law, trade in public areas and communication in health emergencies.
Veterinary Director of the Provincial Health Authority of Agrigento and member of the scientific committee 'Eurocarni', he is the author and co-author of hundreds of scientific and non-scientific articles in national and international journals.
