The company said the cases were confirmed 11 days ago and there had been no further cases since, with 49 members of staff testing negative.
The world foods company, which supplies products to supermarket chains including Waitrose, Tesco and Morrisons, has become the latest firm to grapple with coronavirus cases.
Hundreds of employees at a tomato packing site supplying retailers, including Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Co-op, were last week being tested after 14 members of staff were confirmed to have contracted COVID-19.
A spokesman for Surya Foods told Food Manufacture: “We are a responsible company and the health, safety and wellbeing of all of our colleagues is of paramount importance to our business.
Confirmed cases
“In light of the five confirmed cases, we have implemented self-isolation of allcolleagues working within that team bubble and shift pattern. Forty-nine of our colleagues have tested negative. This happened 11 days ago and we have had no further confirmed cases. Surya Foods employs more than 1,500 people, of which 180 are based in Harwich at present.”
Surya Foods said it had made “necessary changes” across its business to protect staff, introducing deep cleans, temperature testing, personal protective equipment, additional hand sanitisers and one-way systems across its site.
“We have contacted and are working in collaboration with Public Health England and Essex County Council. We can advise that no food products will be affected,” the spokesman said.
“Our priority is and will continue to be the safety of all of our loyal colleagues.”
Support
An Essex County Council spokesperson said: “We are aware of a small number of cases at Surya Foods in Harwich; these partly explain the rise in cases in Harwich. We are working closely with Public Health colleagues and the environmental health officers at Tendring District Council. Health protection officers have visited the business and provided direct support and guidance to ensure they are COVID-19 safe and taking necessary precautions.”
