Preparing for Retail Food Establishment Inspections During the COVID-19 Pandemic

As the COVID-19 protection measures continue to evolve, it can be easy to lose focus on basic food safety principles. When retail food establishments are open, they are open for inspection. In addition to their normal responsibilities of ensuring safe food handling procedures, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA) has been given authority to enforce Governor Wolfe's order directing protections for workers at essential businesses. Failure to comply with the measures in the order could result in citations, fines, or license suspensions.

COVID-19 Safety Practices

As part of the Governor's orders, the following are a few examples of practices that retail food establishments must follow to encourage social distance and mitigation practices. The full details of the Governor's order can be found on the Governor's website.

• Masks must be provided to and worn by employees, unless using break time to eat or drink.
• Employees must have sufficient space to maintain a social distance of 6 feet and not have more than 10 employees on break at one time.
• Stagger work start and stop times as able, so that employees do not enter or exit the premises at the same time.
• Prohibit non-essential visitors from entering the premises.
• Make sure there are enough employees to control access, maintain order, and enforce social distancing.
• Require customers to wear masks and deny entry to individuals not wearing masks, unless under special circumstances.
• Ensure employees who do not speak English are made aware of these new procedures in their preferred language.
• PDA COVID-19 Guidance: Grocery and Convenience Store Employees and Retail Food/Food Manufacturing – Procedures for Sanitization and Diagnosed Employees offer further details and guidance.

General Food Safety Practices

Retail food establishments should always be putting control measures into place to protect food. The comprehensive guidelines which retail food establishments must follow can be found on the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture's website. Below are examples of critical food safety topic

Temperature Control

• Remember the temperature danger zone: keep cold food at 41°F or less and hot food at 135°F or higher. Foods must be cooked to the proper temperature.
• Poultry: 165°F
• Ground meat, egg dishes: 155°F
• Whole cuts of meat: 145°F
• Pasta, rice, vegetables: 135°F

Employee Hygiene

• No bare hand contact with ready-to-eat food. Employees must practice proper handwashing, wear clean clothing, and sick employees must be properly excluded or restricted.

Proper Storage

• Ready-to-eat foods should be stored above raw meat, all food and supplies must be stored at least 6 inches off the floor, chemicals and cleaning tools must be stored separately from food.

Proper Cleaning and Sanitizing

• All ambient food-contact surfaces must be cleaned then sanitized at least every 4 hours. Use test strips to ensure the strength of sanitizer solutions. Keep up with general cleaning in the facility: floors, walls, ceiling, etc.

Food Employee Certification

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA) has been informed that Penn State Extension has canceled all in-person programs through at least June 19, 2020. This includes ServSafe® classes and proctoring examinations. Check Penn State Extension Servsafe or call your local Penn State Extension office to learn when classes will resume.