Ahmed Hassan Abdou, Hosam Said Shehata
Since its appearance, COVID-19 has created an unexpected, temporary, and sharp shortfall in revenue for restaurant industry worldwide. In order to limit the spread of the coronavirus into their operations, the leading international restaurant chains are increasingly emphasizing their commitment to food safety besides adopting precautionary measures. This study aims at assessing the food safety practices and precautionary measures during COVID-19 Pandemic in a sample of national and international restaurants in Egypt. To achieve this aim, a sample of 35 restaurants (15 international and 20 national) has been observed and investigated. The findings of the study reveal that there were statistically significant differences between national and international restaurants in most of the investigated practices, especially related to cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting, employees’ health monitoring and personal hygiene as well as physical/social distancing measures. Incorrect food safety practices and precautionary measures have been observed especially in national restaurants. The main implication of this study is that restaurants’ managers, especially in national ones, should properly incorporate food safety practices besides precautionary and preventive measures into their operational plans to mitigate the coronavirus outbreak.