The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recently released several guidelines for various segments of the food industry to address the COVID-19 pandemic. First, CDC issued Interim Guidance from CDC and the U.S. Department of Labor, Agriculture Workers and Employers (“the Interim Guidance”), which provides recommendations related to COVID-19 transmission considerations for agriculture workers and employers. The Interim Guidance addresses the unique challenges of controlling the spread of COVID-19 given factors such as agriculture work sites, shared worker housing, and shared worker transportation vehicles, which are prevalent in the agriculture sector.
Second, the CDC issued Meat and Poultry Processing Facility Assessment Toolkit (“the CDC Toolkit”) for occupational safety and health professionals and government officials to use in assessing COVID-19 infection prevention and control measures at meat and poultry processing facilities.
Third, FDA released a food safety re-opening checklist, Best Practices for Re-Opening Retail Food Establishments During the COVID-19 Pandemic (“the Checklist”), for previously closed retail food establishments or those that have been open with limited service related to the COVID-19 pandemic.