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During the pandemic, our perception of our environment and our understanding of security changes. As the COVID -19 crisis continues, the safety of everything from doorknobs to the food we eat has become more important.
The food sector is one of the sectors most affected by the pandemic period. Mass food production facilities, restaurants, convenience food companies were generally affected by the coronavirus epidemic.
Consumers' demands in the food industry have begun to change and increase. This situation has made new regulations mandatory in terms of food safety and quality. Although the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) emphasized that there is no clear evidence that food is a possible source or route of transmission for coronavirus, it has moved away from the concept of ready-made food, especially to protect against the consumer epidemic. This situation caused the manufacturers to make new regulations.
Some important steps have been taken with the change of consumer preferences during the pandemic period and questioning the trust in food companies. At the beginning of these steps, within the scope of 'Covid-19 Hygiene, Infection Prevention and Control Guide' prepared by the Turkish Standards Institute (TSE), "Covid-19 Safe Production Certificate" is started to be given to the manufacturers.
Within the scope of the aforementioned document, many companies, especially large companies producing in the food sector, applied to obtain the "Covid-19 Safe Production Certificate".
In general, this standard includes measures that should be taken for many different sectors. However, the most important and striking one is of course the food sector. Food producers who want to obtain the Covid-19 Safe Production Certificate must meet some conditions. First of all, a risk assessment should be made against Covid-19 within the company.
Early identification of people who show symptoms among employees, ensuring that those who survive the disease come to work for 14 days after isolation, effective implementation of hygiene, infection prevention and control, and the pre-determined and assigned people who will be responsible for the operation and control of the processes, to deal with emergency situations The first points to be taken into consideration are the fact that at least one person who is ready to work, has been trained, regular training of employees for the ways of transmission and prevention of the virus, proper hand hygiene and environmental cleaning and awareness of COVID-19 are the first points to be taken at certification stages.
Consumer confidence in food companies will be ensured by auditing and documenting Covid-19 measures in food companies.
