COVID-19 and Food: Coronavirus cannot be transmitted via Food
Many food-loving people and those who are fond of dining in restaurants are missing all those food diaries during this lockdown. Ramadan is a month of blessings for all Muslims and they always enjoy it thoroughly. All the foodies activate their taste buds in Ramadan from Suhoor to Iftar. But this Ramadan is quite different from the previous ones because of the severity of the coronavirus (COVID-19). Foodies are missing all those late-night dinings, Suhoor & Iftar Buffet this Ramadan. One thing that happened after a long time this Ramadan is the sadness that prevails all over the world.
So now what is the point of concern for all the Foodies?
- Where we could get the same taste during a lockdown?
- Dine-in is prohibited so what is the next option?
- Can we get the proper hygienic food during this coronavirus situation?
- What are the standard operating procedures food chains are practicing during home delivery and takeaway?
- Can we get the desired order via Home Delivery and Take Away?
The answer to all your queries is YES for now. All the restaurants in Pakistan are rendering Home Delivery and Take Away services. Foodies who think that the coronavirus is also being spread via food, so it is hereby declared that it’s just a myth without any proper evidence. This novel coronavirus cannot be spread via food or food packaging after the declaration of “The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control” and the “Food and Drug Administration”.
“There is no evidence out there that, so far with [Covid-19], that it’s foodborne-driven or food service-driven,” Dr. Ian Williams said in an informative webinar. “This really is respiratory, person-to-person. At this point, there is no evidence really pointing us towards food [or] food service as ways that are driving the epidemic.”
As per the information that has been shared by the scientists that this virus needs a surface to stay. So shout out to all the Foodies out there that you don’t need to get panic that somehow your food is being contaminated by the sick chef or not. Though you are uncertain about the food you ordered, so according to an epidemiologist cooked food is virus-free until or unless it is contaminated after cooking. This statement is particularly true for cooked food.
If you ordered something cold such as a Salad and the chef sneezed on it abruptly, then it could be a hazardous scenario. So the main thing that matters a lot is food handling and how the popular food chains practice a proper food handling drive. If the food is prepared through a proper “Food Handling Drive” then there would be a minor risk.
Pro Tip for Kitchen Department in Restaurants:
- Always go through the disinfection machine before entering the Kitchen Area.
- Sanitize your hands properly.
- Wear gloves and face masks.
- Ensure properly that your kitchen department is neat and clean.
- Make sure that all the personnel in the kitchen area have gone through the COVID-19 test so that no contamination prevails inside the food area.
Precautions for Food Delivery & Take Away:
In this critical situation, the greater potential issue for the hospitality industry is to deliver hygienic food by ensuring the safety of customers and riders. All the food chains are taking precautionary measures while delivering food so that coronavirus didn’t spread from rider to customer, or customer to the rider, through coughing, other respiratory air droplets, and direct contact.
So what are the precautionary measures?
Contact-Free Delivery:
Many restaurants are offering contact-free facilities in Pakistan in order to deliver food without physical contact with the customer. Food Panda and other in-house delivery riders of the restaurants are now able to utilize this contact-free food delivery. It means that the rider will give an option to the customers to receive the order themselves instead of handing directly to the customer. In this way, physical contact will be eradicated.
Body Protection:
All the restaurants give helmets, facemasks, gloves, and hand sanitizers to the delivery riders in order to maintain a healthy food drive from the hotel to the customer’s premises. Additionally, food is enclosed into a transparent sealed pack that doesn’t allow any air contamination to enter into the box of food. In this way, hygienic food is delivered to customers.
Indigo Heights Hotel & Suites is all set to deliver quality food via Home Delivery and Take Away Service. They are also rendering versatile cuisines from Suhoor to Iftar and Iftar to post-iftar. Indigo Heights is making Ramadan feast more appetizing by providing a mouth-watering menu of cuisines. They have implemented all the precautionary measures efficiently and give training to all the kitchen staff gradually according to the latest hygiene practices.
Precautionary Measures:
- They have installed a Disinfection Machine for all the staff including kitchen staff in order to maintain a hygienic environment.
- Temperature Check is mandatory before entering into the hotel premises.
- After disinfection, kitchen staff enters into the kitchen premises.
- All the kitchen utensils are sterilized frequently.
- Chefs’ attire is always deep cleaned before usage.
- Face mask is mandatory inside the kitchen area.
- Cooked food is wrapped hygienically into a sealed package and hand over to the delivery riders.
- Delivery riders deliver the quality food to the destination by following all the standard operating procedures.
- Face mask, helmet, hand sanitizer, and gloves are mandatory for the Home Delivery Riders.
- For Takeaway via Drive-Thru, Indigo Heights maintains the entire standard operating procedure.
Indigo Heights Hotel & Suites is actively providing all the latest information about Food & Beverages, Food Tips, Hospitality, Hygiene Tips, Advanced Trends, and Rooms & Suites etc. So what you are going to do is visit our Blog Section or you can go through our Facebook Page for all the latest news and updates. Feel free to share, like, and comment on our latest Articles and Blogs. Your feedback will be much appreciated.
