Food Permit Center

National Consumer Protection Week Follow Up

March 10, 2020

Hello again from the Division of Food Safety!

On behalf of Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, we’d like to provide additional information to help you decrease the risk of transmission of both food-borne illness and disease, as the nation continues to respond to the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) outbreak. This follows up on guidance provided during National Consumer Protection Week.

Many grocers and convenience stores provide access to hand sanitizer (and sanitizing wipes) to their customers upon entering the facility. Now more than ever, we encourage you to continue this practice (or adopt this practice if you currently don’t) as an added level of consumer protection. Additionally, consider instructing staff who manage carts to sanitize cart handles during the handling and corralling process. This additional activity can go a long way in reducing transmission of bacterial and viral pathogens.

Limiting the practice of cart sharing at checkout is also a great opportunity to reduce disease transmission risk. While cart sharing is a great efficiency measure, during this time of heightened viral transmission concern, sanitizing carts between use can go a long way to reduce the spread of pathogens. We encourage you to consider adopting a policy of sanitizing cart handles after each and every consumer use, or allowing the customer to keep the same cart throughout the checkout process.

We’re also encouraging you to review information provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) for prevention of Coronavirus. Protect Yourself includes informational topics such as When and How to Use Masks, Myth-busters, and Getting Workplace Ready. Additional resources include: Your Questions Answered, Travel Advice and a Technical Guidance page for your consideration.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Coronavirus Disease 2019 webpage also offers useful information for your review including Environmental Cleaning and Disinfection Recommendations which provides interim recommendations for community facilities with suspected or confirmed cases of Coronavirus. While there may be limited cases in Florida right now, most all of these recommendations are applicable for cleaning and disinfecting any instance of a viral or bacterial pathogen contamination.

We welcome your questions, comments or concerns. Please send us an email at FoodSafety@FDACS.gov or call us at (850) 245-5520. Be safe, be sanitary, be prepared!

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