Doctors: Covid From Packaging Poses Little Risk While there is no evidence that food or food packaging are significant transmission pathways for Covid-19, there are steps that food companies can take to reduce the risk of contamination, argues Professor Phil Bremer, Dr Catherine McLeod, Dr Jo- anne Kingsbury and Dr Rob Lake. Covid-19 has caused significant disruption to the food industry as companies strive to ensure worker safety and maintain regulatory and consumer confi- dence in their products. Despite billions of meals having been transported around the world and consumed since the start of the pandemic, there is no definitive evidence that food or food packaging has been a source or a transmission route for SARS-CoV-2. Although significant Covid-19 outbreaks have oc- curred at food processing facilities and amongst food service workers, the primary cause of these outbreaks is believed to be due to person-to-per- son transmission, which has been facilitated by the enclosed nature of the work environment, rather than exposure of workers to contaminated food or packaging material. While a number of studies have investigated the ability of SARS-CoV-2 to survive and remain infec- tive on food, packaging material or other surfac- es, the majority of studies have inoculated the food or surface with far higher concentrations of virus than could be reasonably expected to be naturally deposited by infectious people sneezing. Survival over time has then been assessed under conditions that have generally not reflected natural scenarios. Nevertheless, when added to foods, SARS-CoV-2 can remain infectious for varying periods of time, dependent on the properties of the food (pH) and the storage conditions (temperature, relative hu- midity). In the work place, best practice for managing the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection amongst workers in- cludes facilitating and encouraging vaccination, im- plementing routine temperature monitoring, stress- ing the importance of self-isolating and of workers seeking medical advice and getting a Covid-19 test if they have any symptoms of Covid-19 and/or re- spiratory illness. Companies can best protect people, products and packaging, according to the doctors by ensuring there is good ventilation, appropriate PPE use, the use of screens, strong workplace bubbles and so- cial distancing, and that there is strict adherence to good hygiene practices.
6 January 3, 2022 Flexo Market News
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