Systematic Review on Food Safety and Supply Chain Risk Assessment Post Pandemic: Malaysian Perspective

Md Saad Nurul Eiman,Firdaus Muhammad Nurul Azmi Aida,Trias Mahmudiono,Siva Raseetha

doi:10.3389/fsufs.2021.682263

Md Saad Nurul Eiman, Firdaus Muhammad Nurul Azmi Aida + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2021.682263

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Abstract

The novel coronavirus disease 2019, or COVID-19, is a recent disease that has struck the entire world. This review is conducted to study the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic to food safety as well as the food supply chain. The pandemic has caused various changes around the world as numerous countries and governments have implemented lockdowns and restrictions to help curb the rising cases due to COVID-19. However, these restrictions have impacted many aspects of everyday life, including the economic sectors such as the food industry. An overview of the current COVID-19 situation in Malaysia was discussed in this review along with its implication on food safety and food supply chain. This is followed by a discussion on the definition of food safety, the impact of the pandemic to food safety, as well as the steps to be taken to ensure food safety. Hygiene of food handlers, complete vaccination requirement, kitchen sanitation and strict standard operating procedures (SOPs) should be in place to ensure the safety of food products, either in food industries or small scale business. Additionally, the aspect of the food supply chain was also discussed, including the definition of the food supply chain and the impact of COVID-19 to the food supply chain. Travel restriction and lack of manpower had impacted the usual operation and production activities. Lack of customers and financial difficulties to sustain business operational costs had even resulted in business closure. As a conclusion, this article provides insight into crucial factors that need to be considered to effectively contain COVID-19 cases and highlights the precaution methods to be taken through continuous monitoring and implementation by Malaysian government.

Highlights

The entire world has been plagued with the sudden appearance of a new disease commonly known as COVID-19 that was brought about by the severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), (Olaimat et al, 2020)
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought on some effects to food safety and the food supply chain
This is due to the possibility of transmission of COVID-19 through the food handlers as well as by food packaging materials

Summary

INTRODUCTION

The entire world has been plagued with the sudden appearance of a new disease commonly known as COVID-19 that was brought about by the severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), (Olaimat et al, 2020). COVID-19 is a respiratory illness characterized by symptoms such as fatigue, dry cough, fever, as well as lymphopenia (Cucinotta and Vanelli, 2020) This recent pandemic has brought about many changes around the world as numerous countries have implemented various lockdowns and the closure of many economic sectors in order to curb the number of rising COVID-19 cases due to the spread of the infection among the citizens. A new norm has been introduced where social and physical distancing must always be adhered to with masks to be worn at all times while being in public areas, as well as the prioritization of hygiene and sanitation This pandemic has affected many aspects of day-today life, including social life, as well as many economic sectors. Precaution and solution taken by the government were discussed in order to provide an insight as a form of improvement to the current situation while managing the pandemic

LITERATURE REVIEW

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT