Food Safety Precautions at Home and Restaurants
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has completely upended our ways of living and has brought forth long-term effects on all fields and areas of society and daily living, particularly including the kitchen.
Given that we are now in a post-lockdown period with domestic helpers, grocery stores, restaurants, delivery services and vendors functioning as usual, it is now more important than ever to start bringing in food safety precautions in how we deal with food, cooking and kitchens, especially considering the state of uncertainty surrounding us.
Transmission through Food
There is no evidence or research to suggest that COVID-19 can spread through food and food packaging, although the primary risk lies in food handling and its passage between the food handler and the customer.
In fact, the risk of catching this virus through cooking and food handling or even coming into contact with packaging and bags is generally quite low, with no such cases reported thus far. Despite the fact that workers in this industry have been affected by the virus, there is no established link between this and the food or packaging they work with.
To truly take measures and precautions, there are a few key areas that we must focus on that you can read about below.
Cleaning and Sanitising Food Contact Surfaces
You can either make a disinfectant at home using water and liquid chlorine bleach or simply buy one from the store. Spray this across the surface, let it rest for a couple of minutes and then rinse it out with water. Dry the surface with a cloth.
Make sure you do this frequently to kill the germs and the virus before it spreads. In case someone is sick or infected, make sure you regularly use this kind of sanitisation method for all high-contact surfaces.
Be careful while handling food and food surfaces as well, but make sure you do not use the above or similar cleaning solution on the food itself.
Hotbeds of Contamination in the Kitchen
Sink
Kitchen cloths
Countertops
Chopping board
Cutlery
Microwave/oven
Doorknobs
Refrigerator
Dustbins
Make sure you clean each of these regularly. Do not let leftovers in the fridge and bin bags sit for too long.
Maintaining Personal Hygiene
Regularly wash your hands with soap and water. Do this for 20 seconds each time and rinse out the soap properly. Use a clean and dry towel to dry your hands.
Some instances that require you to wash your hands during the day include:
Before working
Before and after eating
After using the washroom
After working with raw food
After handling waste
After sneezing or coughing
After handling money
Before handling food
After coming into contact with people
Purchasing, Handling and Storing Food
Make sure you maintain social distancing while you are out grocery shopping. Wear a suitable mask at all times and sanitize your hands as well as the handles of trolleys or baskets. When you come back home, immediately wash your hands with soap and change your clothes. Wash your hands again after handling the food products.
When it comes to the packaging, you should first with the packaged non-perishables, change the containers and remove all the additional packaging. You can also soak the suitable produce in water for a few minutes.
You should also make fewer trips to the store or simply order online.
Some other tips and measures include the following.
If things need to be refrigerated or frozen, make sure you do so within two hours of buying them.
Keep the disinfectants you use for your surfaces away from those you use for food and food packaging.
Clean the peels of fruits and vegetables properly.
Clean your reusable bags and air dry them.
Do not rely on salt, pepper, vinegar, lemon juice, and lime juice to clean your produce.
If you are buying meat, poultry and seafood in bulk, use a cooler until you reach your house since bacteria may grow and thrive between 41°F and 140°F. Do not keep it at room temperature for more than two hours.
Deal with leaks or tears in the packaging as soon as possible with spare containers or bags.
Store or cook the food immediately after bringing it home.
Rules for Working in the Kitchen
If there is a shared or common kitchen, such as in cafes or restaurants, make sure that:
Everyone wears a mask.
Everyone maintains social distancing.
Nobody uses phones or accessories in the kitchen.
Preparation before Cooking
If you need to eat your fruits and vegetables raw, make sure you wash them properly first. Keep them apart from the food that you need to cook, even when it comes to the chopping boards you use. Once you prepare the raw foods, put them inside the refrigerator immediately.
Cooking
To keep bacteria away, ensure that the internal temperature for cold foods is below 41°F and for hot foods is above 135°F. In case the hot foods fall below this temperature, you can easily reheat them to 165°F as long as they were not sitting at room temperature for over two hours.
Make sure all the utensils you use are clean.
If you want to reheat the food, ensure that the food reaches a minimum temperature of 165°F. Keep the food covered at all times to keep the moisture in and stir once midway through.
Different foods have different minimum cooking temperatures that vary between 135°F and 165°F. Make sure you cook them to this temperature to prevent bacteria and food spoilage.
Precautions for Takeaway Food
Use online/telephonic order placements.
Pay online.
Sanitize payment machines.
Wear masks if making transactions in person and during delivery.
Sanitize hands before and after delivery.
Maintain social distancing.
Use contactless delivery if possible.
Looking Ahead
Making use of digital innovations for maintaining food safety can make things easier and safer. Smarter Food Safety relies on blockchain, sensor technology, the Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence that can make traceability, prevention, response rates, modernization and educating consumers much simpler and quicker.
Shorter food supply chains can also help maintain safety and sustainability.
The Bottom Line
Maintaining each of these precautions at all stages of the food purchasing, preparing, handling, cooking and storing process can help keep us all safe from the transmission of COVID-19 and other viruses and illnesses. New innovations in the field can also make this realm safer.