Harbinger of the future? Food giant installs walk-through temperature scanners

Tyson Foods is using new technology to check employees’ temperature as they walk into the building.

The food giant is using walk-through infrared body temperature scanners at three of its processing plants, reported CNBC. The scanners allow for mass screening and are faster and more accurate than handheld devices, Tyson’s senior VP of health and safety Tom Brower told CNBC. 

“People can just naturally enter the workforce and it’s scanning them for their temperature,” Brower said. 

The Food and Drug Administration said infrared body temperature scanners have not been approved to detect fevers as a symptom of COVID-19, but it’s exploring new guidance amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Similar fever-detecting devices have been used to identify sick travelers in airports in Asia since the SARS outbreak in 2003, the report said. 

“The FDA is committed to maximum regulatory flexibility in its response to this pandemic, while assuring products are appropriate for use,” an FDA spokesperson told CNBC.

According to the report, some other large companies say they are either already using or exploring the use of walk-through temperature scanners.

For the full story and to see a video of the scanner, click here.