The New York Academy of Sciences
eBriefing 
Ensuring Our Food is Safe During the Pandemic
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Posted May 22, 2020
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Ensuring food safety is a major concern during times of crisis. And people are looking for answers amid the COVID-19 pandemic: Can the virus be transmitted through food? How should we handle, wash, and cook our food to maintain its safety? In this eBriefing, experts explore the food safety considerations and implications of a prolonged and global COVID-19 pandemic from both the standpoint of consumer concerns and food production.
In this eBriefing, You’ll Learn:
- Changes to food production (including preparation, handling, and oversight) that have occurred in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic
- How the food sector is responding to protect consumers from exposure to COVID-19
- How the health of workers throughout the food supply chain be protected during the current pandemic
Speakers
Karin Hoelzer, DVM, PhD
Pew Charitable Trusts
Lee-Ann Jaykus, PhD
North Carolina State University
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Speakers
Karin Hoelzer, DVM, PhD
Pew Charitable Trusts
Karin Hoelzer, a veterinarian and microbiologist, leads The Pew Charitable Trusts’ work on antibiotic use in animal agriculture and focuses on policies to mitigate health risks related to the food supply. Before joining Pew, Hoelzer developed and led risk assessments for the U.S. FDA, and before that was a research associate at Cornell University, tracing the transmission of pathogens between livestock and humans. She holds doctorates in veterinary medicine from the University of Veterinary Medicine in Hannover, Germany, and in comparative biomedical sciences from Cornell University, where she examined the emergence of viruses and their spread from one species to another. Hoelzer serves as the current Executive Director of the District of Columbia Veterinary Medical Association, and scientific editor for the Elsevier journal Research in Veterinary Science.
Lee-Ann Jaykus, PhD
North Carolina State University
Dr. Lee-Ann Jaykus is a William Neal Reynolds Professor in the Department of Food, Bioprocessing, and Nutrition Sciences at North Carolina State University. Her formal training is in Food Safety/Food Microbiology (Purdue University) and Environmental Sciences/Public Health (the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill). Dr. Jaykus is probably best known for her efforts in food virology, having served as the scientific director of the USDA-NIFA Food Virology Collaborative (NoroCORE project) for over 7 years. She has 30 years of experience training undergraduate and graduate students in food microbiology; leading food safety research projects; and working with external stakeholders in the food and beverage industry, sanitation and hygiene sector, and with cruise lines. Her professional activities have included membership on the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF); participation in several National Academies consensus studies and as a member of the Food and Nutrition Board; and as a member of the executive board of the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP), for which she served as president in 2010-2011.