Coronavirus and the Food Industry

The Coronavirus has become a worldwide hot topic and is sending many people into a panic. Coronaviruses themselves are a large family of viruses that cause the cold and the flu, and actually are quite common. However, COVID-19, a new strain first identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, seems to be a more aggressive and harder to treat strain. According to BBC News, most cases are never counted, due to the patient experiencing mild symptoms and never going to the doctor. BBC News also reported on the death rate as it pertains to age, gender, and health condition.

What does this mean for the food industry?

Luckily, food industry food safety standards already have food processing facilities practicing proper sanitation, such as hand washing before entering the plant floor and use of gloves, hair nets, face masks, lab coats, etc. These implementations may now be increased due to the outbreak.

As food industry machinery appraisers, we are in food processing facilities every week. Although we see an uptick in food safety management and diligence by plant personnel, we find our activities and the production schedules business as usual. We applaud the already prepared food industry for having the high standards they already have in place.

We also applaud the travel industry for the extra steps they are taking for provide safer travel conditions for travelers. Delta airlines, for example, has increased the diligence and proceedures by plane cleaning staff for both domestic and international flights.

Personally, we take the very same procausions as recommended by the WHO and CDC as with the common flu season. Precautions like wiping down your seat area on the plane, avoid touching door handles, escalator railings, etc. when in public places. We are fully aware of the risks, but our inspection teams are ready to go to food plants worldwide.

Interestingly, sources indicate that food processing companies are seeing a stock bump as a result of consumers stocking their pantries. According to an article on foodprocessing.com, Campbell Soup’s share price rose 6.3% on March 2nd. Other food processing companies with canned/non perishable items can likely see a similar spike in purchases.

Conversely, Food Industry Executive has reported on a few ways the virus will negatively impact the industry. First, companies are expecting interruptions in supply chains, as well as disruptions with imports and exports. Also, many companies have instituted national travel bans. Finally, Natural Products Expo West, a major trade show, was cancelled.

The Coronavirus is generally passed on either directly, through contact with another person’s body fluids, or indirectly, through contact with a contaminated surface. In reference to the virus being transmitted via food, Harvard Medical School states:

”We are still learning about transmission of COVID-19. It’s not clear if this is possible, but if so it would be more likely to be the exception than the rule. That said, COVID-19 and other coronaviruses have been detected in the stool of certain patients, so we currently cannot rule out the possibility of occasional transmission from infected food handlers. The virus would likely be killed by cooking the food.”

However, according to an Australian article, any foods that are not cooked to a significant degree are threatened; “this is even the case for foods processed with a ‘Listeria-cook’ of 72°C for 2 minutes.” Also, chilling and freezing most likely is not going to kill this virus, so more precautions would need be taken in these instances.