Food Safety During Food Delivery

U.S. consumers used a food delivery service over a one-month period, according to a 2023 report from DoorDash (doordash.com). “Meal kit services have grown in tandem with the overall trend toward food delivery and consumption at home,” says Paul Bradley, senior director of product marketing at TraceGains, a supply chain solutions company in Broomfield, Colo.

Social distancing measures initiated during the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of meal kit and food delivery services as consumers aimed to reduce their exposure to crowded places such as grocery stores and restaurants. After the pandemic, meal kits remained popular in light of busy lifestyles, a preference for convenience, and a desire for a wide range of recipes that cater to various dietary preferences and restrictions, says Rachel Fogle, PhD, associate professor of biological sciences, program lead for environmental science and sustainability, and director of aquaponics and hydroponics initiatives at Harrisburg University of Science and Technology in Harrisburg, Penn.

Meal kit and food delivery services also offer a convenient solution for many urban dwellers, especially in food deserts, considering transportation constraints and the proximity of grocery stores with healthy, fresh produce, Dr. Fogle says. Smartphones and mobile apps have simplified the process of ordering food and meal kits.

With the popularity of food delivery services and meal kits growing so quickly, however, food safety regulators have given little guidance regarding best practices for direct-to-consumer (DTC) or third-party delivery (TPD) services. In food delivery, this “last mile,” the means by which food is transported from a producer and packager to an actual consumer, presents unique challenges for maintaining food safety.

“Whether food is being carried by a delivery driver or conveyed by a package delivery service or other means, situations can arise in which food can be handled unsafely,” Bradley says. “In particular, concerns exist around perishable food items that must be held within safe temperature ranges, as many delivery methods don’t account for temperature verification and other traditional food safety process controls.”

Regarding meal kits, issues can surface when using non-traditional delivery channels such as mail or package delivery systems, which typically aren’t designed to provide the kinds of checks and controls required by safe food handling guidelines, Bradley says.

Greatest Safety Concerns

Due to limited regulations for DTC and TPD, as well as a lack of understanding of risks posed by these services, concerns have mounted. When food is placed in a box for shipment, it’s no longer under that establishment’s control, and delivery companies such as the U.S. Postal Service, UPS, FedEx, aren’t regulated by food safety agencies, says Donald W. Schaffner, PhD, distinguished professor, extension specialist, and current chair of the department of food science at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J. Even if these companies do guarantee delivery times, they use unrefrigerated vehicles and therefore don’t have the capacity or ability to guarantee delivery temperatures.

Temperature control of perishable goods is a top concern, says Martin Bucknavage, MS, MBA, senior food safety extension specialist in the department of food science at Penn State University in University Park, because it can result in quality issues related to spoilage and contamination by organisms such as Listeria and Staphylococcus aureus, along with the spore-forming pathogens Clostridium botulinum, Clostridium perfringens, and Bacillus cereus.

Temperature abuse becomes problematic when a shipped product doesn’t get to a consumer in a timely fashion, which could occur to a shipment being mailed to the wrong address or a consumer not being present when a product is delivered. Even if coolants are used, in some cases they may not compensate for delivery delays, Bucknavage says.