Coronavirus in the Kitchen

Experience with SARS and MERS suggest that people are not infected with the virus through food. So, it is unlikely the virus is passed on through food and there is no evidence yet of this happening with COVID-19 (coronavirus) to date.

Coronaviruses need a host (animal or human) to grow in and cannot grow in food. Thorough cooking is expected to kill the virus because we know that a heat treatment of at least 30min at 60ºC is effective with SARS.

So a kitchen is not any more or less susceptible to transmission than any other workplace where people are coming in and out.

Food workers should maintain proper hygiene practices (this isn't new) and operators should be quick to identify staff who are sick and (critically in this part of the world) not financially motivate them to come in regardless. Paying someone for a few sick days will pay-off long term vs the risk of infecting further staff.

So who else is in the kitchen - well us for one and then delivery drivers - whether for incoming product deliveries or outgoing food deliveries to consumers.

I see it a fair bit but there is never (especially now) a reason for an delivery rider to be in the actual kitchen - make sure there is a clear demarcation and handover as well as communication on this (the dark kitchen guys do this well).

For service providers (like us) you need to be sure that the contractor has sound practices and guidelines in place for their staff to minimise the risks in the workplace (ask for copies). The Technicians themselves should be following similar hygiene practices to the kitchen staff (again this is always not just now) and minimising contact with any food contact surfaces as a matter of course. We have used gloves now for some time (for hygiene as well as hand protection) and found this to be a great solution - just make sure fresh gloves are used once the Technician is in your kitchen.

Please feel free to share this if others may find it useful!