A COLLABORATIVE APPROACH TO MANAGING SARS-COV-2 WITHIN THE FOOD INDUSTRY; FILLING DATA GAPS AND IMPACTING BEHAVIORS

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: The global SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented 6 million illnesses and almost 400,000 deaths. This pandemic has had a direct impact on the U.S. food supply. The food industry and governmentshave been forced to address this emerging pathogen based on scarce data. Public health and regulatory officials scrambled to provide guidance for the food sector early in the outbreak. Our project team, FoodCoVNET, stepped in to fill this gap. We quickly began to review and catalog the existing and expanding literature. We used that information to provide ongoing science-based technical support to our colleagues in the food sector. Our support includes best practice recommendations and assistance in confirming data gaps. As a result of that experience, we have created the framework for an integrated research and extension project that leverages existing food safety networks to rapidly address SARS-CoV-2 concerns within the food sector. In this project we will furtheraddress SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 concerns by evaluating practices and confirming efficacy through laboratory research on virus persistence, inactivation and transfer. We will translate that knowledge into a variety of educational resourcesto help the food industry make decisions. This project has a foundation of stakeholder engagement, working directly with he food industry and regulatorsto gather information to ensure that data gaps are identified and filled. We will create a clearinghouse of resources including outreach and training materials focused on recommending science-based behaviors and practices and evaluate our impact on reducing the effect of COVID-19 on the food sector. The overall goal is to help the food industry manage risks and communicate steps that are being taken.