Effectiveness of ISO 22000 Food Safety Management System in COVID-19 Pandemic

Coronavirus 2019 disease (COVID-19) is a newly appeared pandemic triggered by a novel virus. The respiratory tract is mainly affected by this disease and it is very dangerous due to its communicable nature. This disease has significantly affected human health and economic activities worldwide. The unavailability of any medications at present for this infection underlines the urgent need to establish new approaches to control the disease’s spread.

World Health Organization (WHO) has declared COVID-19 as an international concern regarding public health emergencies. It has affected all sectors of life badly by producing a lot of risks and snatching opportunities (WHO, 2020). The food sector is one of the major industries that needed to overcome the diverse challenges of the pandemic with a strive for the production of safe food and secure the sufficient food supply to all the sectors. Food sustainability, food safety, and food security are predicted to the strongly important during this pandemic.

The food sector needed to work on a regular basis to ensure food safety, security and maintain the food supply chain. To facilitate the supply chain, the WHO proposed two key documentary guidelines. One of those guidelines focused on addressing the various authorities responsible for food safety management systems, especially the “Hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP), MS1480, good hygiene practices/Good Manufacturing Practices (GHP/ GMP) and food safety management systems (ISO 22000) that are evolved in past few years.

In parallel, several other guidelines are also updated and evolved international and local levels from the private and public sectors to assist the food companies in this tough situation (Nakat & Bou-Mitri, 2021). According to WHO, the main mode of transmission of this novel virus is human to human, so it has indirectly impacted the entire food sector. ISO 22000 standards have several important components that focus on good hygiene practices, personnel’s health, and a safe working environment.

Several studies have been conducted in the world to evaluate the effectiveness of food safety Management systems and ISO 22000 in the food industries (Suprapti et al., 2020). The researches indicate that food safety management system response during the Coronavirus pandemic has promoted and triggered the maturity of ISO 22000 and this factor is set as the base for ranking the companies as per their response to this pandemic. It has been concluded that companies with ISO 22000 or other food safety management systems have responded more rigorously in taking preventive measures to combat Coronavirus 2019 within the operating environment.

Hygiene and staff awareness proved to be two important factors in tackling the COVID-19 in food businesses and this can give a major impact on food safety. The industries with food safety management systems or ISO 22000 implementation showed to have strict hygiene practices, more aware personnel, and trained personnel regarding hygiene and food safety management and operation control. Despite all difficulties and challenges, food safety has not been negotiated in these industries at any moment. For emergency purposes, these companies were supposed to be more symmetrical with lined up plans, a tracking system for health issues, and COVID-19 pandemic.

Conclusion:

The outbreak of the severe COVID-19 pandemic has produced very tough situations for all sectors of life and the food sector is affected by this too. This condition has put the food sectors in a very challenging position to maintain food safety, food sustainability, and food security together with the safety of working staff. The food sector has made efforts to take the condition under control according to the guidelines of WHO and several other public/private sectors. It can be concluded that the industries with food safety management systems or ISO 22000 implementation showed better performance, stood high in trust rankings without compromising the health safety of working staff and food safety. Thus, it is advised to food industries to implement ISO 22000 or other food safety management systems to stand out in this tough situation and maintain their trust and integrity.