How many times does chef taste or lick while cooking food?

Generally they have a 'designated' tasting spoon, so the food will be ok.

That depends on what I'm cooking. While not a professional, over the last 20 years I now use plastic and other washable utensils. It wasn't always that way.

Food contamination is very common when you let anyone prepare it. The fact is that Hepatitis A makes its way into restaurants because of people who work there who are infected with the virus. So if the the chef is infected with Hepatitis A or any other kind of illness you can catch it and get infected too.

If you knew what happens in a Kitchen, hahaha, you would NEVER leave home.

Chefs (and I, at my house) have a quantity of tasting spoons on the counter so we can taste with a clean spoon. You can get a big card of stamped stainless steel teaspoons at Sam's club for a few dollars and maintain hygiene in the kitchen. Wife and I find ourselves using them for snacks too.

I taste food only once, near the end, to see if it needs more salt or pepper.  If making gravy, I might have to taste the gravy more than once.

But with each tasting, I use a new, clean small spoon straight out of the drawer, and then put that spoon into the dishwasher. If I need a second tasting, I use a new spoon.

No contamination.

I've been cooking since the 1960's and with some dishes I no longer need to taste the food before deciding it is fine.  This is called Experience.

"Anonymous" said they reheat takeout food ... this troubles me.  IF they reheat it in the microwave, this doesn't reheat the food LONG ENOUGH to kill bacteria.  They have to reheat in the oven for half an hour in order to kill any possible bacteria/viruses in the foods.

Besides ... covid-19 is NOT food-borne.  No danger.  Unless you are snorting contaminated food into your NOSE.

Escoffier basically invented modern cooking. He used the 2 spoon method, you use one spoon to scoop up the food, and pour it into another spoon, which the chef would then taste. This was made pointless upon the invention of plastic, throw away spoons. 

They are supposed to use a CLEAN spoon every time they taste.  But....do they?

A few times, it does not contaminate the food, if it's done professionally. (take a new spoon everytime you taste)

Covid19 dies in heat over 135 degrees. I reheat the few take out items I bring home.