Food Protection Trends - November/December 2022 - 426

PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLE
Food Protection Trends, Vol 42, No. 6, p. 426-438
https://doi.org/10.4315/FPT-22-006
Copyright©
Ziqian Chen,1* Ece Bulut,2
and Renata Ivanek2
2022, International Association for Food Protection
2900 100th Street, Suite 309, Des Moines, IA 50322-3855, USA
1
2
Aljoša Trmcic,3
College of Human Ecology, Cornell University,
Martha Van Rensselaer Hall, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA
Dept. of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences,
College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, 602 Tower
Road, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
3
Dept. of Food Science, College of Agriculture and Life
Sciences, Cornell University, Stocking Hall, Ithaca, NY
14850, USA
Rapid Review of Government Issued Documents
Relevant to Mitigation of COVID-19 in the U.S. Food
Manufacturing and Processing Industry
ABSTRACT
We surveyed publicly available records published by the
U.S. government between the start of the coronavirus
disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and 30 September
2021 to identify documents containing resources or
guidelines about COVID-19 mitigation relevant to the U.S.
food manufacturing and processing industry. Among 35
documents identified and reviewed (including 34 from
government agencies and 1 from a relevant professional
association), we extracted 19 categories of mitigation
strategies covering the themes of employee biosafety,
surveillance, vaccination, social distancing, and worker
education. We concluded that the priority of COVID-19
mitigation in the food processing industry was to protect
the health and safety of industry workers while maintaining
food supply chain resilience to minimize disturbance in the
food market and avoid food crises. This collated list of the
identified documents and their comprehensive review will (i)
aid researchers and public health workers in interpreting
the potential impacts of the recommended mitigations
on the epidemiology of the disease among workers in the
*Author for correspondence: Phone: +1 949.508.5454; Email: zc383@cornell.edu
426 Food Protection Trends November/December
food processing industry and (ii) help the food processing
industry sort out the most essential strategies to use
during a pandemic.
INTRODUCTION
Since the first detected case in the United States in early
March 2020, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
pandemic has significantly impacted many aspects of society
and many sectors of the U.S. economy (67). Specifically, the
food manufacturing and processing industry has been heavily
affected by labor shortages and supply issues (45), which is
a problem of high concern because food is a basic necessity.
One of the first documented large COVID-19 outbreaks in
the food processing industry occurred at the Smithfield Foods
pork processing plant in Sioux Falls, SD, which resulted in
929 cases among its 3,635 employees (26% of employees
affected) (39, 51). As of September 2021, >1,400 COVID-19
outbreaks at food processing and meatpacking facilities and
>77,900 cases among workers in those facilities had been
reported (36). High transmission rates and large numbers of
COVID-19 cases in the processing facilities have forced many
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