INTRODUCTION: Catering for athletes competing at international sporting events such as Olympic and Paralympic Games (OPG) is challenging. This has been heightened during COVID-19 due to the need for caterers to adapt to new food service guidelines (1), such as those suggested by the International Olympic Committee (2). The purpose of this research was to compare the compliance of caterers to various COVID-19 counter measures (CCM) placed on food provision at the Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022 OPG. These included provisions around personal hygiene, sanitization, and physical distancing with the aim of reducing athletes` risk of infection. METHODS: An online survey was distributed to expert dietitians attending July 2021 Tokyo (n=20) and February 2022 Beijing OPG (n=7). Eleven different CCM were included in the survey for the main dining halls (MDH) in the athlete villages, satellite villages, and venues at both events. The CCM were observed by experts and rated as compliant (100%), partially compliant (50%) or non-compliant (0%) over the course of the event. RESULTS: Overall, the MDH at both Tokyo and Beijing had higher compliance on CCM than other dining sites. In Tokyo, most CCM were rated as partially or fully compliant, with the exception of reduced seating time with 40% (6/15) experts rating this as non-compliant. Greater than 80% of experts (12 /15) rated full compliance for hand sanitizer, gloves, masks, and plexiglass dividers. Similarly in Beijing`s 3 villages, greater than 80% of experts rated full compliance for hand sanitizer, gloves, masks, plexi-glass dividers on seating and regular wiping of seats. In Tokyo satellite villages, experts reported only partial compliance (4/5; 80%) for sanitization of condiments and no or partial compliance (4/5; 80%) for self-service. At venues, 90% (10/11) experts reported full or partial compliance to reduced seating and mask wearing (9/9; 100%) but observed non-compliance to social distancing and eating outdoors. Comments from experts suggested that CCM compliance was reasonable at both events. In Tokyo, however, the MDH was overcrowded at peak times, while in Beijing other aspects of food safety were considered as less rigorous, with two comments about gastrointestinal distress from potential cross contamination in some athletes. CONCLUSION: Findings suggest that the greater the number of diners relative to the size and flow of the dining area, the more challenging it is for caterers to adhere to CCM. Caterers also must consider all factors affecting food safety in terms of decreasing risk of illness in the dining environment of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
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