COVID-19 and Safety Concerns

The coronavirus, COVID-19 has captured everyone’s attention in every facet of life. One area that has been highlighted is the safety of the food that we purchase from our local grocery store, whether in person or delivered. We typically never question how safe the food is unless there is contamination found somewhere. Now, the question must be asked, “is our food safe, and how safe is it?”

The Food and Drug Administration exists to ensure that our food is free from pathogenic organisms, and arrives at your grocer contaminant-free. Other factors involved in food safety include the existence of antibiotics in meat, and what happens to the food once it arrives at the grocery store. Once at the store, the employee, as well as the consumer are at risk for coming in contact with contaminated food, whether by ingestion or by contact.

Meat And Seafood Safety

Before arriving at the local grocer, all meat and seafood products are required to pass some sort of inspection. This includes imported products such as fish, and shrimp and other seafood items. The USDA requires that all imported meat, poultry, and seafood be prepared under standards equivalent to those in the USA. This helps to ensure that products being imported meet or exceed the standards of the USDA and that Americans are getting safe products delivered to their table.

However, as with meatpacking plant inspections, there is no clear way of knowing whether Tilapia from China is safe. In the United States, there are USDA inspectors on hand to inspect the slaughtering process of animals and how the carcasses are disposed of. Recently, many workers became infected with the coronavirus and the plants were forced to shut down. Meat and poultry processing in the US has come a long way from the days when Upton Sinclair published his famous novel “The Jungle.” Still, the risks are there, and despite federal inspections, many products still make it to our stores with some sort of contamination.

Check That Lettuce

Recent outbreaks of E. Coli contaminated produce such as lettuce, also brought awareness to consumers of the many possibilities for food to become less than safe. The USDA also inspects farms that ship produces routinely to ensure that the produce is harvested, stored, and prepared for shipment according to their standards. However, they cannot always be present or may overlook something. Thus, many consumers refused to buy lettuce or similar products from regions such as Salinas, California until the safety of the produce could be guaranteed. But again we must ask, is it still safe?

Many believe that buying organic products is safer. It is certainly healthier but is it safer? Farms that produce organic products must undergo the same inspections and are subject to contamination like non-organic products. In fact, despite having no harmful chemicals, such as pesticides, organics are as likely to become contaminated with bacteria as non-organics. according to Live Science, and that goes for the coronavirus. Regardless of the source, once produce is contaminated with coronavirus it may go undetected, arriving at the grocer already contaminated.

The Employee At-Risk

The grocery store employee is the last in a long line of people who may have handled your food. Once meat, seafood, or produce is inspected, it is packaged and shipped. Sometimes meat is prepared on-site by a butcher, or produce arrives in bulk containers. Either way, the packaging is done at the store level. The employee and the package must be contaminant-free. Once the food is packaged it is made available for the consumer to purchase.

The consumer assumes the risk of believing that that package contains meat or produce that is free of any contaminants, including coronavirus. We all are at the mercy of our local grocer and it’s various employees. But, what about the package handled by multiple employees? Are the loose peaches from Georgia that have been touched by no less than a dozen people before you put in in your cart contaminated? What about that wrapped lettuce form California? Is it safe? Employees are required to wash their hands, and with the coronavirus, face coverings and gloves and other protective gear are also mandated for specific job requirements.

Other Consumers

Assuming that every precaution has been made from the farm to the processing plant or shipping plant and finally the store employee’s, your food should arrive free of any contaminant, especially coronavirus. There is one other population group who might contaminant your food or package. The consumer plays a role in that many people will pick up and hold a package to inspect and read labels, or hold that peach in their possibly contaminated hands. We don’t think of sanitizing the can or bottle, and we usually throw the packages away. But, how much do we wash the loose produce, or the meat or seafood?

The last person to handle our food is not a consumer, but the cashier. If you are one of the many who has switched to having your groceries delivered or someone else shop for you, then you don’t see the food until it arrives at your home. You trust someone else to inspect the meat and produce for you, and yet you don’t know where they have been. Those over age 65 tend to be more confident in the food supplythan those under 35. It is the latter group that will most likely have someone else do their shopping.

Is It Safe?

Within each population group, there are certain areas that they think are less safe, and others they believe to be safer. Perhaps the under 35 age group is more concerned about getting out and going shopping and becoming contaminated than the food. They stay home and let someone else shop, and still have less confidence in the food supply?

Where do you fit in? There are numerous areas of risk along the food chain where our food can become contaminated. You have to do your part and wash and handle food properly before cooking it. You can inspect the food, and shop where you know the store is clean and you have confidence in their ability to keep you and their employees safe.

 Contact Bennett Injury Law for more information about coronavirus risks with food.