The impact of COVID-19 on food safety catering - Sterling Crew

09:30 Welcome 

09:35 The impact of COVID-19 on food safety catering 

Sterling Crew, Strategic Advisor, Shield Safety Group

10:20 Comfort break

10:30 Q&A 

11:00 Finish

Highfield's 2021 food safety conference will be held virtually over 3 days in a series of live webinar broadcasts, bringing together some of the world’s leading food safety experts and organisations. 

As the world continues to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, we know that maintaining consumer trust in food safety is going to be an essential part of the food industry's recovery and growth in the months and years to come.  

Supported by the Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST) and RHE Global, this year's virtual conference is aimed at professionals working in food retail, food manufacturing, food service and catering, as well as food safety tutors and environmental health officers.

The impact of COVID-19 on food safety catering

The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the largest public health crises in recent history. In this presentation, Sterling Crew reviews the potential food safety challenges presented by the SARS-CoV-2 virus and its impact on the catering sector. He will look at the restrictions that have been brought into place to manage the spread of disease and how they dramatically impacted the hospitality industry.

COVID-19 is the name of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. COVID-19 has changed all our lives so fundamentally in so many ways. As well as the critical health concerns, it has brought into sharp focus the importance of food and in particular the availability of safe, healthy, and nutritious food. 

In such uncertain and challenging times, it is important that we use trusted sources and are guided by scientific principles and medical advice. The opinion held by a series of trusted sources is that COVID-19 is a respiratory illness. It is not known to be transmitted by exposure to food or food packaging. The UK Government advises that food business operators should continue to follow the FSA guidance on good hygiene practices in food preparation and their Hazard Analysis and Critical Point (HACCP) processes.

However, the conditions created by the pandemic do have the potential to compromise food safety. The catering sector has been dramatically impacted both economically and socially, across the whole of its entire network. And as the hospitality sector looks to reopen permanently, there will be more challenges to food safety. Sterling will look at the factors that have the potential to impact negatively on food safety if not managed and controlled.

It is clear the catering sector must continue to adhere to good food safety processes and procedures, so we are fortunate that most food professionals and handlers are already well informed and trained with robust controls in place.

Sterling Crew, Strategic Advisor, Shield Safety Group

Sterling Crew FRSPH, FIFST, FCIEH MSOFHT, CEnvH, CSci. Sterling has been a food safety practitioner for 35 years. He is Strategic Advisor for Shield Safety Group, Chair of the Advisory Board of the Food Authenticity Network and is the Independent Scientific Advisor at Campden BRI and sits on its board. 

Sterling is also co-founder of Kitchen Conversation, Managing Director of SQS Ltd, and is a Strategic Advisor at Dynamic Risk Indicator and the Shield Safety Group. He is on the audit governance board at Eurofins and is advisor to the food waste sharing app OLIO and City to Sea, the plastic reduction charity.

Sterling has experience working in the field of national and international food safety, governance, communication, sustainability, and regulation. His experience as a regulator, retailer, brand owner and manufacturer has given him a unique perspective of the food sector. Over the past year, Sterling sat on the COVID-19 action teams of the CIEH and IFST. 

Sterling is a scientific and public health commentator with regular columns and a number of learned papers to his name. He acts as an expert witness and consultant and has written several papers on the impact of the pandemic on the food industry.

Food and Drink Federation’s Food and Drink Scientist of the year 2015/16. 

Society of Food Hygiene and Technology’s Dorothy Cullinane Award for the Most Significant Contribution to the Food Industry 2019.

IFST Honorary Fellow for 2020. 

Elected Trustee Chartered Institute of Environmental Health 2021.

Attendees on this webinar will receive a CPD certificate worth 2 CPD points. 

Plus, every conference attendee will receive a FREE place on Highfield's Training solutions for a changing world webinar 14:30 - 16:00 on Thursday 10 June! 

To find out more about the conference go to highfieldconference.com or email us at events@highfield.co.uk