TRIO Commitment to Food Safety
TRIO teams continue to support our mission to nourish seniors and other vulnerable populations. Together with our clients, our services provide vital resources to millions of individuals in our local communities. TRIO is committed to navigating the often-dynamic situation, knowing that those seniors receiving daily meals exhibit improvements in mental health, feel less lonely, and are more confident living independently in their homes.
Food safety remains a constant focus for TRIO. We continue to follow TRIO’s rigid food safety and sanitation practices and our enhanced COVID-19 protocol to keep our team members and those receiving our meals safe.
TRIO Community Meals teams abide by the following
Enhanced Sanitation
We have enhanced our rigorous sanitation practices to prevent the spread of the virus.
- Commonly used production surfaces, delivery equipment and vehicles are cleaned and sanitized before and after each use, beyond CDC recommended procedures.
- Team members are required to properly wear gloves, wash their hands before and after a task, and wear masks.
- While handwashing is preferred, team members unable to wash hands, such as drivers, will effectively sanitize their hands with hand sanitizer.
Physical Distancing
We evaluate every situation to maintain physical distancing, specifically:
- Avoid confined and congested workspaces.
- Stagger lunch and other breaks to limit the congregation of team members.
- Evaluate workflow to minimize cross-contamination of team members.
- Limit visitors, volunteers, and non-essential individuals in central kitchens, especially workspaces.
- Maintain a 6-foot distance between the driver and recipient of home-delivered meals.
Service Modifications
We have modified our type of meals and service options to prevent the spread of the virus and to meet individual client program needs.
- Meals are sealed under rigid food safety protocol and only opened by the meal recipient.
- We have implemented drive-through pick-up of fresh meals, home-delivered frozen meals, and home-delivered shelf-stable meals while congregate dining is suspended.
Personal Protective Equipment
Our employees abide by the recommendations for PPE by the CDC.
- All team members must wear personal protective equipment, including masks and gloves.
- All team members received training in proper wear and removal of masks and gloves.
Personal Health Monitoring
Our team members observe health requirements to help ensure the health and safety of our teams and those consuming our meals.
- All team members are required to stay home if they are sick.
- Team members diagnosed with COVID-19 must self-quarantine for 14 days before returning to work, and all employees in close contact with a diagnosed employee are also required to self-quarantine for 14 days.
- Temperature checks of team members are taken prior to the start of shifts.
Supply Chain Continuity
Our procurement team is in constant contact with our key suppliers.
- Our team is taking proactive actions to secure products.
- Contingency plans are in place and alternative suppliers have been identified in the event of a sudden or unforeseen supply disruption.
