Restaurants
Amid COVID-19, Restaurant Workers Find Employment Elsewhere
According to U.S. Department of Labor data, more than 700,000 Americans lost their jobs in March, and 60% of those were in the restaurant industry. As food jobs become scarce, other industries are hiring unemployed restaurant workers wherever they can. Divurgent, a healthcare consulting company in Virginia Beach, VA employed 250 former restaurant workers in a call center the company was tasked with creating to help overburdened hospitals enroll patients in the telehealth system. In Miami, the Hispanic grocery chain Sedano’s needed 400 additional employees to keep up with increased traffic to its 35 stores. Sedano’s turned to local cuban restaurants, Versailles and La Carreta, which recently laid off many of its workers to focus solely on takeout and delivery. Many of the former employees from those restaurants now work at Sedano’s.
In the grocery industry, the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) has teamed up with tech company Eightfold.ai. They developed a nationwide job board that matches former restaurant workers’ experience and skills with open positions in the grocery business. And in New York City, which has the highest number of coronavirus cases in the country, the nonprofit organization Rethink Food has hired former employees of the fine-dining restaurant Eleven Madison Park. The shuttered three-Michelin-star restaurant was turned into a commissary, where former Eleven Madison Park staff now work in teams of three across multiple kitchens to produce produce 2,000 meals a day for healthcare workers and New Yorkers in need.
A similar initiative was undertaken by World Central Kitchen (WCK), the nonprofit disaster relief organization run by celebrity chef Jos Andres. WCK’s “Chefs for America” operation aims to reopen more than 400 restaurants across the U.S. and produce 1 million meals for communities in need. The organization pays restaurants $10 to $20 per meal so restaurateurs can re-hire staff and purchase ingredients.
How Young Americans Plan to Spend Money Post-Lockdown
Young Americans want to go out to eat again. TruePublic, a Chicago-based research and opinion firm, asked Americans ages 16 to 35 about when they would resume their favorite activities post-lockdown and what those activities would be. Dining out was first, as the survey revealed 55% plan to eat at restaurants “as soon as isolation ends.” However, 16% will wait a few months after lockdowns are lifted before eating out again, and 16% say they won’t be going back until “long after a vaccine is out.” A smaller contingent, 13%, say they will wait only until a vaccine is developed and deployed. As for other activities, the majority of those polled said they would wait several months or even until there is a vaccine before returning to movie theaters, sporting events, concerts and other gatherings.
How COVID-19 Will Change Restaurants Forever
As predictions of how and when businesses will reopen begin to surface, analysts predict a significant alteration of the restaurant industry.
Coronavirus impacts caused a loss of an estimated $25 billion in sales and more than 3 million jobs in the restaurant industry in the first 3 weeks of March. According to the National Restaurant Association, approximately 30,000 restaurants have closed for good, and more than 110,000 are expected to do so throughout April. On April 14th, California Governor Gavin Newson announced a regional planning effort between California, Oregon and Washington that would lift restrictions on businesses. Throughout the press conference, Newson acknowledged that restaurants would be seeing a new normal. “You may be having dinner with a waiter wearing gloves, maybe a face mask… Dinner where the menu is disposable… where your temperature is checked before you walk in the establishment.”
Jeff Chandler, CEO of the 35-unit fast-casual Hopdoddy Burger Bar, says curbside delivery “is here to stay” in restaurants. “People aren’t going to want to touch a kiosk,” Chandler said, referencing the contagious nature of the virus. Jose Dueñas, President of Coffee & Bagel Brands, which has 1,100 units of Einstein Bros. Bagels, Bruegger’s Bagels, Caribou Coffee, Noah’s New York Bagels and Manhattan Bagel, says the consumer will come out of the pandemic with a heightened demand for convenience. As the hospitality industry gradually reopens, consumers will come to expect and demand food service that accommodates social-distancing protocols, and restaurants will see a dramatic change in how they do business. .
Big and Small Restaurants Battle for Relief Funds
As a result of coronavirus shutdowns, the restaurant industry suffered an estimated $30 billion in losses in March and is expected to lose $50 billion by the end of April. Independent restaurateurs trying to stay afloat amidst the economic turmoil were outraged by Congress’s stimulus package released in March.
The first wave of the Paycheck Protection Program, totaling $250 billion in low-interest government loans, allowed big chains such as Shake Shack, Potbelly and Ruth’s Chris Steak House to receive tens of millions of dollars. Many smaller restaurants received nothing. The National Restaurant Association sent a letter to Congress on March 18th, requesting a recovery fund specifically for the independent restaurant industry.
“We need to get the money into the hands of independent restaurant owners,” said Andrew Rigie, executive director of the New York City Hospitality Alliance. But a restaurant-based relief plan has always been highly unlikely. While many large chains have the resources to last in a longer-term shutdown, most independent restaurants, which make up two thirds of the dining environment in the U.S., will keep struggling to survive. After strong criticism from independents, the Shake Shack chain returned its $10 million government loan, gaining capital elsewhere from an unrelated equity transaction.
Restaurateurs Demand Business Interruption Payments From Insurers
President Donald Trump is in the middle of an intense lobbying fight between businesses and insurers over hundreds of billions of dollars in claims sparked by the coronavirus shutdowns. Stay-at-home orders have forced restaurants and other businesses to close, so those businesses began filing business interruption claims to help withstand the economic pressure. But the claims were rejected.
While the coronavirus has certainly caused business interruptions, insurers argue that this event is not one they ever pledged to cover. “Unlike a hurricane or an earthquake, a pandemic is not limited by geography or time. It’s everywhere geographically and for extended periods of time. So the loss potential in practical terms is almost infinite,” said Evan Greenberg, CEO of insurance company Chubb.
Celebrity chefs Wolfgang Puck and Thomas Keller have launched their own advocacy group to pressure insurers to pay, making their case on Fox News in an attempt to catch the president’s attention. President Trump has shown sympathy to restaurants, having overseen his own hospitality business before being elected. However, the White House has made no decisions in the debate. “As President Trump has said, we are ensuring that we take care of all Americans, including affected industries and small businesses, and that we emerge from this challenge stronger and with a prosperous and growing economy,” White House spokesman Judd Deere said. .
Kansas City BBQ Now Comes From A Vending Machine
The vending machine outside Jones Bar-B-Q in Kansas City was originally going to be filled with chips and soda. Since the pandemic lockdown, owner Deborah Jones began looking at the machine with new eyes. It’s a takeout opportunity, she thought: let’s fill it with barbecue.
As small barbecue restaurants like hers struggle to survive, Jones feels the vending machine couldn’t have come at a better time. While the machine isn’t completely contactless, it allows Jones to keep serving her barbecue while keeping her customers safe. “You’ve got to try everything once in your life,” Jones says.
Fine Dining Faces Long Road to Recovery
Restaurant reopenings in China offer a glimpse into the future of fine dining in America. In March, chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten reopened his restaurants in Shanghai and Guangzhou, following extensive government rules such as regular temperature checks for both staff and customers, no more than four guests per table, mandatory space of six to eight feet between tables, and app-based ordering so that no cash changes hands. As America adjusts to its pandemic restrictions, a similar business model will likely govern the chef’s dine-in restaurants in the U.S. American restaurateurs are planning now for a three-phase approach to resuming business in dining rooms, following the White House “Guidelines for Opening America Again.”
These guidelines urge U.S. restaurateurs to operate at lower capacity with fewer tables and fewer dine-in guests, at least during phases one and two. Within this limited-capacity business model, mobile ordering, takeout, and delivery may be the only way for fine dining restaurants to pay the rent. Restaurateurs may also need to invest in new personal protective equipment for staff and, possibly, health insurance. It remains to be seen whether guests will perceive a decreased public health risk in frequenting restaurants that provide health insurance to staff in the post-COVID-19 era. If so, the expense may be more than most restaurants can bear. Depending on how many months the lockdown continues and how quickly cities proceed through all three phases of reopening, some restaurants simply may not survive. Many public health officials predict waves of rolling, temporary lockdowns that will last until a new coronavirus vaccine is available, which could be at least a year or more. As a result, by some estimates, about 30% of fine-dining restaurants will close permanently.
These are sobering times for the hospitality industry and for the tourism industry in general. It could be years before destination dining fully recovers. When it does, new dining guidelines and restrictions will almost certainly be in place. Be prepared for a new normal that minimizes the public health effects of a single person on a larger group of people, as in a restaurant or public market.
Beverages
Yes, Women Drink Beer and Brew It Too
Beer bros aren’t the only players in the game. Mariana Schneider launched Gangsta Ladies of Wort (GLOW) to prove the point. GLOW is a global activist organization that brews collaboration beers and advocates for marginalized people in the brewing industry, including women, people of color, and the LGBTQ community. GLOW aims to provide marginalized beer professionals with employment opportunities, financial aid, education, safety, and when necessary, counseling.
According to a 2019 survey by The Brewers Association, a craft beer trade group, only 7.5% of breweries employed women in brewing roles, while 54% of service positions were staffed by women. The study also revealed that among the 54% of breweries owned by a single person, 96% were owned by men. These gender disparities run through typical brewery salaries as well. Data from the popular beer website Beervana (based on information from Glassdoor and Payscale) shows that the average salary for entry-level brewery employees is between $22,000 and $29,000 in San Diego. However, entry-level female brewery employees can expect to earn 11% less than males. Part of GLOW’s mission is to overcome these employment and economic disparities.
Cristalino Clearly A New Type of Tequila
There’s a relatively new tequila in town. Just don’t call it tequila. Cristalino is a clear, oak-aged tequila filtered with charcoal similar to the way many white rums are made. Mature tequila may be labeled blanco (white, aged 2 months or less), Joven (young or gold, typically a blend that’s colored with caramel coloring), reposado (aged at least 2 months), añejo (extra-aged at least 1 year), or extra-añejo (ultra-aged), depending on whether the spirit was barrel aged for two months or for several years. Cristalino is white like a blanco but must be aged for at least two months, so it tastes more like a reposado or añejo. The amber color imparted from barrel-aging is removed via charcoal filtration, giving the spirit its name.
The first commercial cristalino was launched in 2012 by Don Julio as “Don Julio 70 Añejo Claro.” It was recently renamed, Don Julio Añejo Cristalino. Many tequila producers have released cristalino bottlings, but use other terms without referencing “Cristalino” in the name, making the category more obscure as a whole. Producers also have more labeling freedom because cristalino may be barrel-aged anywhere from 2 months to several years, deepening the flavors, yet the spirit remains clear in color.
More Breweries And Distilleries Upcycle Spent Grains To Reduce Food Waste
As craft breweries and distilleries proliferate, spent grains continue to pile up. Despite being organic waste products, spent grains are high in acidity and bio-oxygen demand, so they aren’t easily disposed of, even in cities with large wastewater treatment plants. Fortunately, spent grains still contain valuable nutrients, and drink-makers have long partnered with farmers to make use of them as nutritious feed for cattle, hogs, chicken, fish and other animals. Kentucky’s Bardstown Bourbon Company gives away about 107,000 gallons a day to local farmers, who come pick it up for free. On a smaller scale, Colby Frey of Nevada’s Frey Ranch Estate Distillery, gives his spent grain to a neighboring farm as cattle feed, while liquids from the spent grain go into the farm’s irrigation system to balance the soil’s pH levels.
Spent grains can also be upcycled in the baking industry. In Toronto, the Spent Goods Company works with bakeries to repurpose spent grains as baked goods sold in grocery stores, farmers markets, schools, and restaurants. California’s ReGrained company transforms them into snack puffs and bars, and pasta maker Barilla recently invested in the company to expand its product line. Rise Products in Brooklyn takes spent grains from local breweries and turns them into light and dark barley flours. A number of New York City restaurants use the barley flour in pasta, granola and brownies, and food companies like Kellogg’s, Whole Foods, DiGiorno and Nestlé have all asked for samples of the flour for use in its products. Look for more products made with spent grains hitting supermarket shelves soon.
Coronavirus Shakes Up American Wine Industry
American wineries are beginning to lose their nerve as business customers in restaurants, bars, and tasting rooms dwindle amid the pandemic shutdown. Much of the wine industry is scrambling for solutions.
Matt and Sara Licklider—owners of Lioco Wine Company, a small wine producer in California—recently furloughed their nine-person staff, including themselves. The decision came after the company faced steep revenue losses due to restaurant and tasting room closures, which make up for the majority of its sales. As the coronavirus eats away at the hospitality industry, independent businesses owners aren’t going down without a fight. “We aren’t going anywhere,” Sara Licklider said. “But I’m not sure what our business will look like on the other side of all this.”
While some wineries simply put things on hold, others have been able to hang in there with meager sales. “I expected sales to crash for months,” said Phillippe Langner, owner of Hesperian Wines, “but in fact they haven’t…I can still work.” Langner has been able to keep his business alive with cost-cutting measures such as dropping the price of his $150 cabernet by half and maintaining a small staff.
As circumstances grow tense in the hospitality industry, American wineries are both hopeful and fearful of what’s to come.
Cooking
Everyone Can Bake: Simple Recipes to Master and Mix by Dominique Ansel
You may know Dominique Ansel as the creator of the Cronut®, but his true love is kouign amann, the famously buttery, flaky, multilayered caramelized sugar pastry from Breton. This master of baking technique, crowned the World’s Best Pastry Chef in 2017, revealed his professional secrets in his 2014 cookbook, The Secret Recipes. In his new book, Ansel keeps things simple. The recipes appeal to aspiring home bakers and are divided into Bases, Fillings, Finishes and Assembly. The idea is to learn principles rather than specific recipes, so you can mix, match, and get creative with your own combinations. The Bases chapter includes recipes for basic cakes, cookies, and tart shells. In Fillings, you find recipes for creamy additions such as pastry cream, lemon curd, chocolate ganache and soft caramel. While Finishes provides the frostings, glazes and other final touches, Assembly shows you how to put all the components together into specific desserts.
This approach provides bakers with building blocks that can be re-arranged in numerous different combinations, allowing you to get creative with your own desserts. It’s a clever way for a master pastry chef to impart his considerable knowledge of not only specific dessert combinations but also the principles behind them. If you want to see how the mind of brilliant pastry chef works–or just tinker with his recipes–it’s worth a look.
Big Brands Give Away Top Secret Recipes
As coronavirus shutdowns keep restaurants closed, more and more people are cooking from home. In response, big brands are releasing their secret recipes so consumers can enjoy their favorite tastes at home.
This month Pret A Manger released its chocolate chip cookie recipe, McDonald’s released its sausage-and-egg McMuffin recipe, and Disney released its churros recipe “for a little taste of Disney magic.” It’s a PR move meant to gain favor for food and hospitality businesses that are struggling amid the closures, and the move seems well-intentioned. “We know this is an anxious time for everyone,” DoubleTree by Hilton senior vice president Shawn McAteer said in a statement accompanying the hotel chain’s chocolate chip cookie recipe. “A warm chocolate chip cookie can’t solve everything, but it can bring a moment of comfort and happiness.”
Supply Chain
Commercial Fisheries May Face Bankruptcy If Pandemic Continues
As restaurants close and seafood sales plummet, thousands of commercial fisheries across the U.S. are at risk of bankruptcy. Pandemic relief plans are helpful in the short term, but for some fisheries, temporary relief may not be enough.
Kenny Melanson, CEO of Northern Wind in New Bedford, Massachusetts, worries that an abundance of product left unsold could mean a drop in future seafood prices. Northern Wind normally sells about 15 million pounds of scallops and 6 million pounds of ahi tuna a year, but restaurant and hotel closures have pushed those numbers down dramatically. Seafood prices have also fallen because Americans spend almost twice as much on seafood at restaurants than at home. Lobster has dropped from an average of $9 per pound to $2 a pound, says Keith Decker, chief executive of New Bedford fishing company Blue Harvest. Likewise, consumers rarely eat oysters or crab at home, so current demand for oysters and crab have sunk to record lows. Even fish popular among home cooks have seen market prices plummet. The wholesale value of flounder has gone from $4 per pound down to just 50 cents.
Around the nation’s shorelines, boats are tied up dockside, throwing fisherman into joblessness and gutting coastal communities. Some industry veterans say their $300 million portion of the federal $2 trillion economic relief package is not going to cover the damage that COVID-19 leaves behind on the $100 billion seafood industry. “While $300 million is a large amount of money,” explains Robert Vanasse, executive director of the industry advocacy group Saving Seafood, “when you consider the number of commercial fishermen and employees in fishery-related businesses, it will not go far enough…And it does not compare to the $9.5 billion allocated for livestock, specialty crops, and other parts of the food system.”
Global Food Supply Threatened by Coronavirus, Says UN
As the pandemic forces businesses to close around the world, food supply chains are weakening and food security is decreasing, particularly in less developed nations. To keep people fed, countries around the world are responding in various ways.
“Supermarket shelves remain stocked for now, but a protracted pandemic crisis could quickly put a strain on food supply chains,” the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said in a report late last month. The UN’s Committee on World Food Security (CFS) stated that “The issue, however, is not food scarcity — at lest, not yet. Rather it’s the world’s drastic measures in response to the virus. Heightened instability in global food supply will affect the poorest citizens most.”
Here’s how various countries are responding. China has been working for years to improve food security, investing tens of billions of dollars throughout the past decade on major seed businesses. China’s government subsidies and investments in technology such as agricultural drones and unmanned vehicles have thus far kept the coronavirus from crippling the nation’s food supply. In Australia, air travel has been the primary transportation for food exports, and the nation is a top food supplier for the entire Asia Pacific region. The Australian government has provided emergency aid and increased commercial air travel to keep its food export businesses running. Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong imports most of its food from mainland China, while Singapore imports from Malaysia. So far, these food imports have continued relatively smoothly, and analysts in Hong Kong and Singapore forecast less risk of food shortages in those regions. Less developed nations such as those in The Pacific Islands, however, are at greater risk due to a weaker economic base.
The UN has urged affected countries to implement emergency measures domestically, in addition to working with neighboring governments on protecting international food supply chains. “Governments can protect their citizens by mobilizing food banks, offering cash transfers to vulnerable households, establishing emergency food reserves, and taking steps to protect agricultural workers,” said the FAO.
Pandemic Worsens Food Shortages In Poorest Nations
Before the coronavirus outbreak, 135 million people struggled to deal with acute food shortages. However, Arif Husain, chief economist at the World Food Program, estimates 130 million more people could now go hungry. In total, about 265 million people may starve by year’s end. Over 368 million children are not receiving nutritious meals that they normally would in school. As of now, the pandemic hasn’t caused any global food shortage or mass starvation, but the next few months bring logistical challenges for poor countries. Analysts predict that food safety will also be worsened worldwide, particularly in countries like Sudan and Zimbabwe, whose economies had been hurting before the pandemic.
Food shortages in countries that are going hungry will likely lead to social unrest. In India, half a million people evacuated cities to walk home during the pandemic. Amitabh Behar, the chief executive of Oxfam India, reports that this was India’s “largest mass migration since independence”. Many migrants fear starvation more than they fear the virus, and those waiting in food lines have seen others fight over plates of food.
Pandemic Exposes Five Weak Spots In U.S. Food Supply Chain
Americans are questioning the stability of the country’s food supply, and the viral outbreak reveals meatpacking plants as a primary weak spot. Due to cramped working conditions, meat processing plants currently account for some of the largest coronavirus hotspots. Smithfield Foods was forced to close its largest pork processing plant after over 500 workers contracted the virus and one worker died from COVID-19. Other meat processors such as Tyson, Cargill and JBS have also closed plants due to infected workers.
Foreign workers are another weak spot, particularly in the agricultural sector. President Trump’s temporary suspension of immigration during the lockdown could deter seasonal workers from picking fruits and vegetables in the future.
The supply chain has also been challenged with new consumer buying habits, a third weak spot. As restaurants remain closed, consumers are buying record amounts of food at retail grocery stores. But retailers are struggling to keep up with demand. While wholesalers have surplus food products from business interruption in the hospitality industry, products packaged for wholesale cannot be easily repackaged for retail.
Food insecurity marks a fourth weak spot. Prior to the pandemic, 37 million Americans were considered food insecure. Monica Hake, senior research manager at Feeding America, estimated that a 7.6-point rise in the unemployment rate would increase the number of food-insecure people by 17.1 million. To combat the problem, Democrats are advocating to increase nutrition assistance in the CARES Act, signed into law last month.
Lastly, delivery services are struggling with labor shortages to meet demand for increased food delivery. As the coronavirus lockdown continues, the supply chains that provide food to Americans may undergo lasting reforms to withstand any potential interruptions in the future. .
Regulations
USDA Feels The Pandemic Pinch As Food Safety Concerns Mount
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is facing increasing pressure to ensure the safety of our nation’s food supply amid the coronavirus outbreak.
While experts note that the food supply is safe as of now, challenges such as limited resources and the closure of major food processing plants may pose a threat to the USDA’s ability to maintain food safety standards. Smithfield Foods recently closed two more of its pork processing plants in Cudahy, Wisconsin and Martin City, Missouri due to worker illness, and one worker at the company’s Sioux Falls, South Dakota plant has passed away. Two Tyson employees at a pork processing plant in Columbus Junction, Iowa have also succumbed to complications from COVID-19.
Consumer concerns have risen, but public health experts reiterate that studies have found no evidence that the novel coronavirus is transmissible through food consumption. Regardless, the USDA has been so overwhelmed with food safety concerns that it has only issued two product recalls in the past two months, much less than the usual amount. This lack of recalls has some industry analysts worried that COVID-19 may have distracted food safety officials to such an extent that unsafe food products have been purchased and consumed undetected in the past few months. The diminishing recalls may be completely unrelated. “I don’t think consumers should be too worried about the reduction of recalls. I think there’s typical ebbs and flows,” said Brian Ronholm, director of food policy at Consumer Reports. Ronholm also notes that consumers have a part to play in ensuring continued food safety. “Consumers have to make sure they’re practicing some safe food handling practices at home. Washing their hands and separating fresh product from raw product, minimizing their risk as much as possible.”
More SNAP Money Can Now Be Used For Online Groceries
Traditionally, food stamps or money from the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) was required to be spent when shopping in grocery stores. Those rules have been relaxed amid the coronavirus shutdowns. In a pilot program, several states had been allowing benefit debit cards for online grocery shopping, including Alabama, Iowa, Nebraska, New York, and Oregon. The USDA, which administers SNAP benefits, has now added Arizona, California, Florida, Idaho, North Carolina, the District of Columbia and West Virginia to this program.
On average, low-income households qualifying for SNAP benefits are given $235 per month. This money must be used to buy groceries, but does not include delivery fees for online groceries, which must be paid separately. Currently, the only retailers in each state approved by the USDA are Amazon and Walmart, although Wrights Market in Alabama and ShopRite in New York have also been approved. At the start of this year, about 18 million households were granted SNAP benefits, but enrollment is expected to increase dramatically as schools and businesses remain closed and household incomes dwindle. Amid the economic turmoil, Democrats have pushed for a 15% increase in monthly SNAP benefits, and Representative Ilhan Omar (Democrat, Minnesota) has proposed legislation to include every state in the online SNAP program.
Chipotle Will Pay $25 Million In Food Safety Fines
In various cases from 2015 to 2018, Chipotle Mexican Grill was accused of serving tainted food and causing 1,100 people in the U.S. to become ill, according to the New York Times. The fast food company was subsequently charged with two counts of violating the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act by “adulterating food while held for sale after shipment in interstate commerce,” said federal prosecutors. Chipotle has now agreed to resolve the criminal charges by paying $25 million in fines.
The federal charges referred to incidents of norovirus outbreaks, an easily spread virus that causes common symptoms of food-borne illness such as vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, and stomach pain. Chipotle admitted to being involved in at least five food-borne illness outbreaks across the country from 2015 to 2018, several of which were due to disregard for food safety protocols. Since the 2015 events, the company has implemented new protocols and established an “Independent Food Safety Advisory Council” comprised of experienced, independent food safety professionals who provide ongoing guidance on best practices to ensure that food served in Chipotle restaurants is safe. Paying the $25 million food safety fine is the company’s latest step in making reparations for past missteps.
Food Processing
Meat Processing Rollbacks Threaten to Increase Food Borne Illness
To keep the U.S meat supply from bottoming out during the pandemic shutdown, the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced regulatory rollbacks, expediting meat production. FSIS granted a beef processing plant and 11 poultry plants permission to use higher line speeds. These rollbacks enable chicken processors to slaughter up to 175 birds a minute, or 3 per second, whereas previous line speeds were set at 140 birds a minute. Previous regulations also required a minimum of 4 inspectors at each line, but now only 1 inspector per line is required, even with increased line speeds. Data analysis from the Guardian shows that at least 1 in 10 U.S. poultry slaughterhouses failed government salmonella tests last year. Rates of failure have also reached as a high as 34% in some categories. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), efforts to reduce salmonella outbreaks have largely been unsuccessful, with a 9% rise in the incidence rate over the last three years. Some analysts fear that increased line speeds, fewer government inspectors, and the recent rise in salmonella outbreaks could mean a longer-term reduction in the safety of the U.S. meat supply.
Health
Food and Packaging Are Low Risk For Coronavirus Transmission, Says FDA
As the pandemic continues, consumers have been anxious about contracting the virus from food, food packaging, and other packaged goods. In light of these concerns, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently reiterated their guidelines assuring those concerned that there is a very low risk for contracting the virus through food or packaging.
“We want to reassure consumers that there is currently no evidence of human or animal food or food packaging being associated with transmission of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19,” the FDA wrote in a news release. With no evidence pointing to food products and packaging transmitting the virus, experts say you may want to concern yourself more with the act of going to the store. “You’re really more likely to get it from going to the grocery store and touching a dirty handle or doorknob and then touching your face,” NBC investigative and consumer correspondent Vicky Nguyen said.
Disinfecting packages before touching, washing hands as soon you get home, and even leaving groceries out for 24 hours to kill a potential live virus are among the other risk-reducing strategies mentioned.