Food safety and takeaway/delivery

Organized by: World Health Organization

Rapid economic growth, urbanization and the rise of online services and apps have brought notable changes to the way we consume and eat food. Particularly delivery services and takeaway businesses have gained significant popularity over the lasty decade. Consumers have become more and more disconnected from the actual food that they consume and the idealized online presentation of a dish. Studies have shown that this disconnection lowers the consumer attention to potential health and food safety risks, as the trust in technology often translates into trust of the delivered food. In reality we also see that some food delivery and takeaway services operate within an unregulated sector which is often outside of regulatory control systems.

In addition, the current COVID 19 pandemic has accelerated the use of delivery and takeaway food services amid the forced closure of many hospitality businesses. As part of this rapid development, it is essential for consumers, industry and policy makers to understand the implications on food safety and potential risks from delivery businesses and takeaway services and how these are addressed by regulators.

The challenge in delivery and takeaway is that food safety aspects have to be understood across its value chain from the kitchen to the delivery driver service all the way to the consumers home. This means, for the analysis of one takeaway dish, up to three food safety locations (kitchen for food production , delivery driver and home at consumer) have to be considered.