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Taking the COVID-19 Pandemic into consideration and the major effects it has inflicted on virtually the entire globe, tremendous efforts are being undergone by both food safety and quality assurance professionals to ensure the continuity of the global supply chain. With cases rising exponentially, major hardships are being endured by the world’s most important food producing and exporting countries.
According to the current landscape and while there is a major demand by consumers for food products which are shelf stable such as macaroni rice, vegetables and fruits with high Vitamin C standards, the restrictions imposed as a result of the pandemic have limited production and caused a delay in transportation.
With many factories working in a safe mode and fewer workers harvesting fruits and vegetables in the primary sector, food production has been highly affected. Further, several difficulties are being encountered in the transportation of food products including delays, lack of space on airplanes and increased prices. – issues which have created food safety challenges across the industry.
When taking the quality and safety of the different food products, buyers in food manufacturing and retail companies may have concerns regarding the quality of the products imported from these countries heavily hit by the pandemic. They may request suppliers in these countries therefore, to provide assurances regarding the safety and compliance of production processes, as well as additional documents – a task considered challenging for companies because of the restrictions applied on a national level for controlling the outbreak. Organizations already meeting food safety standards, tend to have revised guidelines to allow for remote audits to ensure that necessary controls are in place to avoid abuses which can compromise the integrity of the remote audit process. These can include live video checks of the manufacturing process and the general hygiene of the site, among others.
Another major food safety challenge which ought to be highlighted is supplier verification. With on-site audits being forbidden due to travel restrictions, the most important tool for verifying suppliers is not available. As a result, authorities such as the FDA are launching new guidelines for alternatives. With this policy being issued to avoid disruptions in the supply chain, companies need to consider other options with the absence of on-site audits such as Food Safety Plans, sampling, testing and reviewing food safety records on a regular basis.
A third major challenge which will be discussed is delays in the supply chain for foods.
With major ports around the world imposing a 14- day quarantine period for vessels either arriving from or transiting via China, these transportation delays may result in extended storage which will in turn, have negative effects on the quality and safety of the products. An example worth mentioning is the development of toxins in cereals and nuts.
Given this new landscape, the supply chain will be affected for at least several months, resulting in fluctuating environments which will surely affect the way food safety professionals must perform risk estimation. This new reality imposed as a result of the pandemic, calls for remote supplier verification, virtual audits and the availability of large quantities of data to support decision making.
