There are numerous ways the COVID-19 has impacted the food industry -from education to bringing our community together.
Education: I must admit Coronaviruses have done better and more impactful education compared to the accumulated 8 years of my career in the food industry (way beyond the numerous food safety training that I have performed). Without further explanations, food employees (and non-food employees) now recognize the keywords and importance of these keywords:
Introduction of Work from Home: Many people are new to working from home and are worried about how to keep their motivation, missing out on the social interactions and navigating the many online and conference options. The COVID-19 helps to bring us out of our comfort zone to learn about technology and how we can work together in a global community setting. Example: writing a food safety program can be done virtually while some of the implementation and verification steps can be done at the facility. By differentiating the tasks and working background, we can reduce the amount of possible face-to-face human interactions. It is important also to recognize the many different technologies that we have access to, call and conferencing options. Teams can get together via a conference call to ensure that the project deadline is met, getting ideas from the team and confirming information etc. Best apps for working from home: Office 365 (Document sharing), Zoom, Skype (Conference call), Calendly (Scheduling call) and your favorite calming music Figuring Out Social Distancing and Food Contamination: While there is no evidence that COVID-19 can be transferred and survive in food products, many food manufacturers are taking precaution to ensure their working employee is healthy and following the communicable disease policies strictly. The social distancing rule has also been incorporated into the working schedule to reduce the amount of employee working in a shift. Bringing Community together: I also like to acknowledge how the viruses bring us together as a community, living on the same boat, fighting the same war in an unprecedented world. Food companies are recognizing employee’s well-being and the importance of their frontline workers in keeping the food supply chain going. Keeping sick employees home so that they could recover. Running to Fill The Grocery Store: While the community is on a “panic buying mode”, it was the food industry, grocery store, the transportation companies (and all the front line employees) that help fill the grocery store. Many people do not know how it is being filled but basically, it takes numerous calls, rush orders logistic coordination with multiple suppliers throughout a supply chain to restock a shelf. That is just how much work that our grocery stores have put to ensure that we are able to get the product that we like to get. Sharing Resources is Caring: I am thankful that some food companies (and others) have come forward to make essential medical, protective tools and chemical sanitizers that they normally wouldn’t make, to ensure those who need the equipment and tools have priority access to them. It is important to keep our medical teams (doctors and nurses) safe as they help infected patients recover and to minimize possible disease spreading. COVID-19 has and will continue to change our community -we know that our people and our communities are key to keeping humanity and our (and other species) survivals. Over the last few months, we have seen reports of observation of a clearer sky, water and empty roads and parks that we have never seen these past few years. To some, the pandemic helps our earth to restore. I like to leave you with this, let’s take over COVID-19 and the responsibility to restore our earth on our hand. Comments are closed.
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AuthorFelicia Loo, CFS is a Certified Food Scientist and qualified SQF Practitioner. She has worked with numerous food businesses to develop customized and improved food safety programs. She has worked with different food safety and regulatory schemes such as SQF, ISO 22000, Primus GFS, Organic, Kosher and Health Canada (Natural Health Product). Categories
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