Food delivery in Italy continues to grow, despite the ongoing perma-crisis, but the ‘food safety’ issue-partly related to the rights of workers, riders and otherwise-remains unresolved in several respects.
In the jungle of the gig-economy, brief notes on the rules to be applied and the official controls that are lacking. But also some tips for consumers, on how to prevent food poisoning from eating at home.
1) Food delivery and quick commerce, growth and concentration
Food delivery and quick commerce, according to estimates presented by Ambrosetti at the ‘Food Forum 2023,’ continue the rise that began in the Covid era (1.2):
– food delivery platforms alone, in Italy, have grown from €70 million in total revenue in 2015 to more than €360 million in 2018, more than €700 in 2020, to €1.8 billion in 2022,
– food delivery thus expresses 44 percent in value of agribusinessecommerce – €4.7 billion, in turn accounting for 3 percent of total industry sales – followed by grocery (37 percent) and food and wine (19 percent). It is worth adding, nevertheless.
– the Italian market is concentrated in the hands of a few international players. Fewer and fewer, after Uber-eats, Gorillas, and Getir in quick succession, in June and July 2023, decided to pull out of Italy, leaving riders such as administrative staff and other personnel (3,4,5) stranded.
2) Food safety and food delivery, microbiological risks
Microbiological analysis conducted on Glovo’s food transport bags, carried out as part of a Red Prawn investigation, revealed the presence of more than 200 colonies of bacteria on the bottom and walls of the boxes. Three times as many as-if found on the floor of a restaurant-could result in its closure by the authorities, according to the lab manager in charge. (6)
Beniamino Cenci Goga – a professor in inspection of food of animal origin at the Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Perugia, interviewed by GIFT – premised that ‘to comment on the Gambero Rosso investigation, one needs to delve deeper into the methods of analysis and the identity of the microorganisms isolated.’
‘In any case,’ Professor Cenci Goga continues, ‘although containers do not qualify as MOCAs (food contact materials and articles, or Food Contact Materials, FCMs), it is incumbent that they be properly washed and disinfected.’
3) Food hygiene and food safety culture, EU rules.
Food hygiene-the cornerstone of food safety-is defined as ‘the measures and conditions necessary to control hazards and ensure the fitness for human consumption of a food product, taking into account its intended use.’ (7) The recent reform of Hygiene 1 Regulation (EC) No 852/04 then introduced the concept of ‘food safety culture‘. (8)
‘Food business operators must establish and maintain an appropriate food safety culture, and provide evidence to prove it, by complying with the following requirements:
(a) commitment by management (…) and all employees to the safe production and distribution of food,
(b) Lead role in safe food production and involvement of all employees in food safety practices,
(c) awareness by all employees of the enterprise of food safety hazards and the importance offood safety andhygiene,
(d) open and clear communication among all employees of the enterprise, within an activity and between consecutive activities, including communication of deviations and expectations,
(e) availability of sufficient resources to ensure the safe and hygienic handling of food‘ (new Chapter XI-bis, Food Safety Culture).
3.1) Food safety and food delivery, allergen contamination risks
Hygiene 1 Regulation
(EC) No 852/04, in its latest reform, also updated the general hygiene requirements to be met by all operators in the food chain. Introducing special measures to prevent the risks of food contamination with allergens-and thus ensure food safety-which also apply to food delivery.
‘Equipment, vehicles and/or containers used for processing, handling, transporting or storing substances or products [alimentari] that cause allergies or intolerances, as listed in Annex II of the 1169/2011, shall not be used for processing, handling, transporting or storing foodstuffs that do not contain such substances or products, unless such equipment, vehicles and/or containers have been cleaned and checked at least for the absence of any visible residues of such substances or products‘ (EU Reg. No 852/04, Annex II, new point 9). (9)
3.2) Responsibilities of food delivery operators
‘ Food and feedbusiness operators must ensure that in the enterprises they supervise, food or feed meets the provisions of food law relevant to their activities at all stages of production, processing and distribution, and verify that these provisions are met.’ (10)
Food safety must come from all operators, including food delivery operators, who are responsible for:
– Prepare and ensure the effective adoption of self-control procedures. Namely,Good Hygienic Practices (GHPs) andHazard Analysis on Critical Control Points (HACCP),
– Training and supervision of all those involved in food handling, transportation and storage. Be they employees, even of third-party companies (e.g., service cooperatives) or ‘self-employed,’ as Assodelivery in Italy insists on qualifying riders. (11)
4) Official checks
Health authorities are in turn responsible for official controls on the agri-food chain, according to the Official Controls Regulation (EU) No 2017/625. GIFT asked Fabrizio De Stefani, director of the veterinary food hygiene service of Azienda ULSS N. 7 Pedemontana and author of the valuable ‘Guidelines for food delivery of bars and restaurants in the time of Covid‘, which retain great relevance precisely with regard to food hygiene and safety requirements. (12)
Official controls are indispensable, Fabrizio De Stefani stresses, and must include both the measures taken to prevent the risks of contamination of food with allergens and the necessary information about them. By contrast, which is still absent in almost all cases, in food delivery and quick commerce. The problem is that unfortunately the authorities in charge of official inspections often do not have sufficient resources even to do the ‘bare minimum’ for traditional facilities, and tracking thousands of riders on bicycles would require funding, as well as programming, hitherto unseen. (13)
5) Advice for consumers
‘In any case, the suggestion we feel we can make to consumers of take-out food is to Do not put the containers used for transportation on the table or kitchen table, but transfer the food into the more usual household victuals and Wash hands thoroughly after contact with the bags in which it is contained‘ (Professor Beniamino Cenci Goga, University of Perugia).
These tips are of particular importance when food purchased through food delivery is intended for vulnerable people. Indeed, children, pregnant women, the elderly, and the immuno-compromised (even transiently, due to treatment with antibiotic drugs, cortisone, chemotherapy) are at risk of even serious illness due to widespread foodborne toxins, as noted. (14)
Dario Dongo
Notes
(1) Marta Strinati. Food delivery , the boom in home delivered meals. GIFT(Great Italian Food Trade). 5.2.19
(2) Marta Strinati. Food Delivery for 1 in 3 Italians. Consumer expectations. GIFT(Great Italian Food Trade). 12.2.20
(3) Marta Strinati. Uber Eats leaves Italy, riders without protections. GIFT(Great Italian Food Trade). 15.6.23
(4) Marta Strinati. Gorillas closes in Italy. Off to the layoffs. GIFT(Great Italian Food Trade). 5.7.22
(5) Delivery startup Getir to exit Italy, Spain and Portugal. Reuters. 7/27/23 https://www.reuters.com/business/delivery-startup-getir-exit-italy-spain-portugal-2023-07-27/
(6) Maurizio Gaddi. Bacteria at home. Shocking investigation into food contamination in deliveries. The Red Prawn. 19.8.23 https://tinyurl.com/yc5ajjyw
(7) Hygiene 1 Regulation (EC) No 852/04, as amended, Article 2(1)(a)
(8) Dario Dongo. Reg. EU 2021/382. Allergen management, safety culture, food redistribution. GIFT(Great Italian Food Trade). 9.3.21
(9) Identical requirement is established for primary agricultural production operators (EU reg. 852/04, Annex I, Part A, Section II, new Article 5-bis)
(10) General Food Law (Reg. EC 178/02), Article 17 – Obligations.
(11) Angelo Junior Avelli, Marco Marrone, Maurilio Pirone. What happened to the riders? Jacobin Italy. 4.8.23 https://tinyurl.com/337k6hmf
(12) Dario Dongo, Giulia Caddeo. Covid 19, Guidelines for the revival of restaurants and bars through food delivery. GIFT(Great Italian Food Trade). 3.4.20
(13) The Italian government, as also previously reported on this website, has devoted generous resources to the ICQRF (Central Inspectorate for the Protection of Quality and Fraud Repression of Agri-food Products) but not also to the health and veterinary services, on which official food safety controls depend. See the previous article ‘Ministry of Agriculture, ICQRF and Carabinieri for Agribusiness. Budget Law 2023‘. GIFT(Great Italian Food Trade). 13.1.23
(14) Dario Dongo. Listeria, a dangerous pathogen out of control. GIFT(Great Italian Food Trade). 19.8.23
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
