City issues standard for catering services

A city standard on the operation of catering businesses during the pandemic was issued by Shanghai's market watchdog on Tuesday.

The Shanghai Administration for Market Regulation said the guidance for catering services during the pandemic is the nation’s first local standard regulating the practice of local eateries.

It covers the entire food operation process and focuses on food safety, the administration said.

"It states that eateries should place disinfected dishware only 15 minutes prior to serving food, which aims to minimize the impact of the environment on dishware and prevent contamination," said Pan Ying, a senior engineer with the Shanghai Academy of Quality Management.

Catering service providers are recommended to supply take-away meals or set meals to prevent the risks resulting from people gathering, and provide one set of chopsticks and spoons enabling diners to take food from communal dishes and another set to eat with.

More detailed service standards in the area are being drafted and are expected to be released before the end of April, the administration said.

"The standard promotes a healthy lifestyle and guides the public to change their dining habits, preventing cross infection as well," said Zhai Lei, director of the administration’s standard and technology department.

Restaurants and food delivery platforms should implement non-contact delivery, use food delivery seals, attach cards which record the health information of food operation staff and delivery workers with take-away food, or introduce intelligent meal take-away lockers to ensure food safety during the pandemic, according to the standard.

The design of the seals, or stickers, means they can only be used once, lessening the possibility of food being polluted during delivery.

"The seals will prevent contamination during delivery, while the 'safety card' recording the body temperature of food operation staff and delivery workers on the day and the disinfection of restaurants and delivery boxes will enhance residents' confidence in food safety," said Zhai.

"Eateries are also encouraged to introduce measures such as placing the 'safety card' on the table for diners eating on the premises instead of food delivery service only," said Zhai.

Diners should wear masks when visiting dining venues, have their temperatures checked and present health QR code, according to the standard.

The standard covers food material procurement, food processing, management of staff, meal supply, food delivery and prevention measures promotion, which is scientific and practical, the administration said.

It also involves the frequency of disinfection and cleaning of eateries, storage of food, and ventilation of eateries.

"The standard will lift the management and service capabilities of food safety of local catering service providers against sudden infectious disease epidemics, and upgrade their operation model," said Zhai.