Covid 19 - What you need to know - FSA publishes guidance for food businesses on coronavirus (COVID-19)

On Thursday, the FSA has published guidance to assist food businesses in responding to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

The advice covers a range of useful topics including social distancing and how to maintain this in specific food businesses including, food processing plants, supermarkets, staff canteens, food markets and takeaways offering a pick-up service.

We have spoken to a large number of clients who are proposing to alter their usual ‘on-trade’ business to become a takeaway, in light of the current restrictions.  Questions around how this can be done while maintaining social distancing arise often.

 The FSA advice for those planning to operate a collection business includes the following:

•  no orders should be taken in person on the premises - this should be communicated to customers by appropriate means such as signage
• businesses should therefore only take orders online or by telephone
• customers could have staggered collection times - customers should be discouraged from entering the premises until their order is ready
• customers arriving without having already placed an order should be encouraged to leave the premises to place their order by telephone or online, and to return at a designated time for collection
• customers whose orders are ready should enter one at a time to collect orders and make payments
• businesses should discourage crowding outside the premises. Where possible, use queue management systems to maintain the 2 metres separation