Eating Out During COVID-19: Is Takeout & Delivery Safe? - Essay Sample

Introduction

Currently, more than 80 percent of the global population is staying at home following directives by the World Health Organization in an effort to reduce the spread of the coronavirus (Sheridan, 2020). As a result, more than 75 percent of Americans are living on food deliveries from their favorite fast-food restaurants (Bushmaker et al., 2020). It may also be the reason why phrases such as "Is it safe to eat takeout food during the coronavirus pandemic?" and "Is it safe to have food delivered?" have become the most searched in Google over the last few months. Clearly, people want answers. Well, let us get some from the experts in the foodservice industry as well as medical professionals.

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Naturally, these questions are multifaceted: Are food delivery safe for the people delivering them? For the chefs preparing them? For the people consuming them? Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all answer to the queries. However, companies and customers can reduce risks significantly.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, there is no evidence that the virus can be spread through food (Burdorf et al., 2020). Basically, the coronavirus is transmitted from one person to another through respiratory droplets.

"The food may be safe, what about the packaging?" This concern is insightful the results of research by Sheridan (2020) that found the virus to be detectable on plastics and other surfaces for hours. Fast food restaurants have opted to take extra precautions to protect both their employees and customers from exposure to contaminated packages and containers. Harvard University's assistant professor of Exposure and Assessment Science, Dr. Joseph G. Allen, used the Sufficient-Component Cause model to illustrate how it nearly impossible to transmit the virus using food packages.

"Think of this model as pieces of a pie. For the disease to happen, all the pieces of the pie have to be there: sick delivery guy, sneezing/coughing during delivery, transferring the viral particles to the packages. All these activities cannot happen within the short delivery period," the Washington Post editor wrote.

"As a fast-food company, we are offering essential services to both the medical professionals in the frontline against this pandemic, as well as the people who are staying at home," says Mark Singleton, the manager of ParmCrisps Snack Food and Bakery. He reported that the establishment has also taken measures to reduce the risk of exposure. "We are operating at half capacity. Fortunately, we are operating in shifts so none of our 36 employees was fired." ParmCrisps Snack Food and Bakery has chosen to reduce its employees' wages instead of sending some of them home on unpaid leave.

When asked how the pandemic has affected the business, the manager explained that the biggest challenge the restaurant industry is facing around the world is that it has never anticipated both supply and demand shocks to happen at the same time.

"During the covid-19 crisis, our sales have increased with roughly 40-50 percent, but other restaurants are closing down creating an imbalance between sales from restaurants and grocery stores."

His fears are in line with research by Shahidi (2020) that concluded that the whole foodservice industry is likely to face a logistics problem because of the imbalance of sales between the two key players. For now, the company has not had any challenges in preparing and delivering the products. The establishment is focusing on ensuring they have all the ingredients required to make the foods.

The National Restaurant Association released a statement saying that it was ensuring that all establishments were following the strict public health guidelines issued by the government as well as other health institutions, including the CDC and the WHO. To meet these guidelines, ParmCrisps Snack Food and Bakery has various safety protocols and practices in place. For instance, they have reduced the number of staff at the restaurant at any given moment to ensure social distancing is possible. Additionally, the owner has requested work surfaces to be cleaned more frequently while cleaners are supposed to be wearing gloves at all times.

The food service industry around the world is still anticipating the long-term effects of the pandemic. While the sales have increased, the trend may not last long, given the number of job losses since the epidemic started. For instance, the Wall Street Journal reported that McDonald's has since the virus halted all its projects across the United States. According to Bartik et al. (2020), the COVID-19 crisis presents unprecedented uncertainty for small establishments given their limited resources. While Mark Singleton is optimistic that they will resume full operations by the end of the year, he says he can only rely on the information given by the government. For now, the establishment hopes to continue supporting both the local community and the health professionals fighting the virus.

References

Bartik, A. W., Bertrand, M., Cullen, Z. B., Glaeser, E. L., Luca, M., & Stanton, C. T. (2020). How are small businesses adjusting to COVID-19? Early evidence from a survey (No. w26989). National Bureau of Economic Research. https://www.nber.org/papers/w26989.pdf

Burdorf, A., Porru, F., & Rugulies, R. (2020). The COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic: consequences for occupational health. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, 46(3), 229-230. https://www.sjweh.fi/show_abstract.php?abstract_id=3893

Bushmaker, T., Morris, D. H., Holbrook, M. G., Gamble, A., Williamson, B. N., Tamin, A., & Munster, V. J. (2020). Aerosol and Surface Stability of SARS-CoV-2 as Compared with SARS-CoV-1. The New England journal of medicine. https://europepmc.org/articles/pmc7121658/bin/nejmc2004973_disclosures.pdf

Shahidi, F. (2020). Does COVID-19 Affect Food Safety and Security?. Journal of Food Bioactives, 9. http://www.isnff-jfb.com/index.php/JFB/article/download/125/216

Sheridan, C. (2020). Fast, portable tests come online to curb coronavirus pandemic. Nat Biotechnol, 10. https://www.briancolemd.com/wp-content/themes/ypo-theme/pdf/fast-portable-tests-come-online-to-curb-coronavirus-pandemic.pdf