Safely Handling Food/Groceries

[SaintsManiac]

Someone shared this video last night and at first I thought it was way too extreme. I thought I was taking every precaution, but maybe not? I stopped going into stores. I put the bags in one spot near the door while I empty them. I throw the bags away and wash my hands, then spray lysol on the floor where the bags were. I let that sit for 2 minutes then wipe it up. Am I supposed to be disinfecting every single item? I am really wondering! I think it's silly that he wipes everything 2 seconds after spraying it AND uses the same paper towel on each item.

Am I wrong for thinking this guy is going overboard?

How are you handling your groceries?

 

[pryncess527]

For non-perishables in cardboard we are leaving them in the garage for a day. Most everything else gets lysoled

 

[Christine]

I'm not doing anything like that. If stuff gets delivered to me, I let it sit out for awhile. If I can't, I bring it in, do what I need to do and then very quickly and thoroughly wash my hands and anything my dirty hands touched. That's it. I'm not disinfecting boxes.

 

[SaintsManiac]

For not n-perishables in cardboard we are leaving them in the garage for a day. Most everything else gets lysoled

I don't have a garage, so not an option. I'm going to think about this next time we do a grocery order. Too late for the one we picked up Tuesday!

 

[anniemae]

I saw this video yesterday and kind of freaked out. I have not been wiping things down or wearing gloves when handling groceries. I hope I have not infected us. I will start to take items out of cardboard boxes and discard the boxes. I may also start wiping down glass jars like pickles. I never thought to lysol groceries. I have been hand washing after handling groceries.

 

[pryncess527]

For non-perishables in cardboard we are leaving them in the garage for a day. Most everything else gets lysoled

I should clarify, I am not lysoling meat packages. We do usually re-package the meat in freezer paper, but if we don’t then we just wash our hands after touching the plastic meat package.

 

[Imzadi]

The medical expert on ABC & GMA said to wipe everything down with a disinfecting wipe. The Coronavirus stays alive on plastic & hard surfaces for 3 days and on cardboard for 24 hours - according to the CDC and the WHO.

You don't want to be touching something that someone asymptomatic has been touching, then accidentally touching your nose.

However, I just leave stuff in the corner, in the bags or boxes for 3 days. I got boxes from Target yesterday. I sprayed down the boxes with Lysol and then left them in the corner by the door. The shipping took longer than 3 days, so stuff is probably already fine inside. But, I want to make sure the cardboard boxes are before opening and then flattening them to toss out.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I've been using gloves to open packages and mail. I open the box/envelope and my husband takes out what's inside. If something shipped really fast I leave it in the box for a day. My husband thinks this is all overkill, but he goes along with it.

We have a community mailbox, so I am only checking once or twice a week.

 

[godisney14]

Someone posted this in another thread from their state’s website. Given this, you can make a decision whether to wipe down each packaged item. We’ve been doing so. If you’re taking precautions of the delivery bag or box, why would the items inside be any different? Especially items that come in plastic packaging.

 

[goodeats]

I think it’s overboard. From what I’ve read that yes, the virus rna is detectable, but that doesn’t mean it can still infect you.

I refuse to live in fear. I also refuse to teach my children to fear germs besides diligent hand washing and social distancing. Keeping their psyche healthy during this time is my priority.

 

[Imzadi]

I was reading some other article, on the food delivery thread, on the dangers of a food handler sneezing on the food, and whether one could get sick from it. It mentioned the Covid-19 shedding off the bun before it even gets to you.

That's the first time I heard that term: shedding off. What if, while I'm opening or folding the cardboard boxes, the Covid-19 is shedding off? And I'm flipping the cardboard flap open & closed, and it's shedding off and flying through the air and I breath it in, the same as if someone sneezed? Is that possible? Those boxes are staying in the corner until 24 hours goes by.

 

[DisneyOma]

Or you could just not touch your face until after you wash your hands?

 

[loves to dive]

We sort of do what he did. We use two people. My honey goes to the store, I'm one week away from 63 and he is 13 years younger so he thinks it's safer (I'm actually more healthy then him but if it makes him comfortable, so be it). When he gets home, he unloads all the groceries onto one counter. I open the door for him so he doesn't touch it. After he gets everything unloaded, he washes his hands and I start unloading. I use a disinfectant wipe and wipe everything down and put it on a different counter. He then puts it all away with his clean hands. If I know he is buying any fresh produce, I go ahead and put warm soapy water in the sink and dump everything in there and let it soak while we are unloading and putting up everything else. After he has put everything away, I throw away the bags (I still have the dirty hands) and he uses a wipe to wipe down the counter the bags were on and then carries out the trash. We have one of the fauscets like the guy in the video that you can just push so I then wash my hands and wash the produce and put it into ziploc bags. It's probably overkill but it works for us. He read an article last night on how short your fingernails should be to make sure when you are washing your hands you actually get under them so I had to cut mine. That sucked because I normally have pretty long nails but oh well. As far as we go, I'm pretty healthy and have a great immune system. I actually got shingles a few years ago and only had them on a small patch of one leg and they were all under the surface. I only had to take advil and aleve and use an over the counter lidocane cream to treat the pain and was only out of work 2 days. When I had the measles I only had two bumps (right where I got shingles). I'm not that worried about myself getting it, I feel I would be o.k. but he was a smoker for about 30 years and was a 7 month baby so his lungs aren't that great. We use the same two people method when we get the mail, one person opens the envelopes and the other sprays the contents with Lysol. Thankfully, most everything we get is electronic so there is mostly junk mail that just goes straight to the trash.

 

[3threebabies]

I was reading some other article, on the food delivery thread, on the dangers of a food handler sneezing on the food, and whether one could get sick from it. It mentioned the Covid-19 shedding off the bun before it even gets to you.

That's the first time I heard that term: shedding off. What if, while I'm opening or folding the cardboard boxes, the Covid-19 is shedding off? And I'm flipping the cardboard flap open & closed, and it's shedding off and flying through the air and I breath it in, the same as if someone sneezed? Is that possible? Those boxes are staying in the corner until 24 hours goes by.

Pretty sure this doesn’t qualify as “aerosol”izing. Scientists worldwide have said the virus is not airborne in a traditional sense as laypeople understand the term.

 

[Christine]

I think it’s overboard. From what I’ve read that yes, the virus rna is detectable, but that doesn’t mean it can still infect you.

I refuse to live in fear. I also refuse to teach my children to fear germs besides diligent hand washing and social distancing. Keeping their psyche healthy during this time is my priority.

I have heard this also out of the NEJM just the other day. Probably can't find the link again. While the virus rna is detectable, it starts breaking down within 10 minutes. As each minute goes by, it gets less and less contagious. For instance, they found the particles on the cruise ships after 17 days. It was not deemed contagious at that point, just left behind it's calling card. Same for pets. They found the virus in the passages of some of the pets of infected people but it was found not to be contagious.

I feel this is the same for all these packages. The biggest danger is handling it right after an infected person does. After some time it is there and detectable but weakened with each passing minute.

 

[Searc]

We set the grocery bags on the counter, wash our hands, unpack the groceries and put them away, put the bags away, wash our hands and spray and wash the counter.

I am not wiping down containers or boxes because I don't see the need. It's a way to feed the panic and I won't do it because it's unnecessary.

 

[Imzadi]

Or you could just not touch your face until after you wash your hands?

I have a post-nasal drip problem. So, I'm almost always blowing my nose at home. I always washing my hands alot when I'm away from home, especially before blowing my nose and after. But, I'm not going to be monitoring myself at home too. I'd rather make my environment safe at home, so I don't have to do that.

 

[Searc]

Our mail is brought in and thrown on the counter, just like it always has been.

 

[Searc]

I have a post-nasal drip problem. So, I'm almost always blowing my nose at home. I always washing my hands alot when I'm away from home, especially before blowing my nose and after. But, I'm not going to be monitoring myself at home too. I'd rather make my environment safe at home, so I don't have to do that.

I always wash my hands after I blow my nose, even if I am home.

 

[DuskKodesh]

I just bring stuff in, sort it then wash my hands. Counters get washed daily but I don't do disinfecting wipes, they're wasteful for us so we do cleaner and washcloths.
As others said viruses are living things and while you can still detect them it doesn't mean they're still viable. If it's takeout someone was just handling then we'll move it over to clean containers, wash our hands, toss the old ones, and done. I'm sadly much more likely to get this from a coworker than I am my groceries (I mostly shop where I work).