Friday, March 29, 2024

MIA monitoring covid detection claims

Neal Wallace
The meat industry is awaiting further information from Chinese authorities about claims genetic material from covid-19 has been detected on the packaging of frozen beef exported from NZ.
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Meat Industry Association (MIA) chief executive Sirma Karapeeva says in a statement that the advice of international experts is that the risk of the covid-19 virus being transmitted by food or food packaging is negligible.

“Advice from the World Health Organization (WHO) is that transmission by airborne droplets and aerosols is the dominant pathway for covid-19 infection,” she said.

Karapeeva says the association is closely watching and reviewing international developments about transmission and is taking advice from the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and experts at the New Zealand Food Safety Science Research Centre about how to respond to these emerging risks.

She says the meat industry is committed to protecting staff from infection and from spreading the virus and has worked under strict protocols developed with MPI.

“The protocol, which is consistent with other industries and guidance from the World Health Organisation, means we have a robust first line of defence against the transmission of the virus,” she said.

Companies record who is working at the site and in which team or bubble to facilitate easier tracking and tracing to enable a quick response in the event of a covid-19 positive case.

Contact surfaces are also being disinfected regularly.

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