Rapid Review of Government Issued Documents Relevant to Mitigation of COVID-19 in the U.S. Food Manufacturing and Processing Industry

Abstract

We surveyed publicly available records published by the U.S. government between the start of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and 30 September 2021 to identify documents containing resources or guidelines about COVID-19 mitigation relevant to the U.S. food manufacturing and processing industry. Among 35 documents identified and reviewed (including 34 from government agencies and 1 from a relevant professional association), we extracted 19 categories of mitigation strategies covering the themes of employee biosafety, surveillance, vaccination, social distancing, and worker education. We concluded that the priority of COVID-19 mitigation in the food processing industry was to protect the health and safety of industry workers while maintaining food supply chain resilience to minimize disturbance in the food market and avoid food crises. This collated list of the identified documents and their comprehensive review will (i) aid researchers and public health workers in interpreting the potential impacts of the recommended mitigations on the epidemiology of the disease among workers in the food processing industry and (ii) help the food processing industry sort out the most essential strategies to use during a pandemic.