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Do you disinfect your groceries? How do you do it?

mellowyellowgirl said:
Between you and me we're probably tempting fate

Eating refrigerated cakes from a patisserie right now!
Click to expand...

I think you are A OK dear @mellowyellowgirl. After all Australia is doing an amazing job at keeping Covid 19 away. As for @OoohShiny I do not know where he lives (not being nosy just curious lol) but I have a feeling with the groceries you will be OK too @OoohShiny but please dont tempt fate too much. I want the both of you around here for a very long time. :halo:
 
mellowyellowgirl said:
Reading one of the other threads I've realised people disinfect their groceries.

Makes total sense!

I don't..... I wonder if I should start....

I'm feeling a bit "in for a penny, in for a pound now". Probably too late to bother.
Click to expand...

www.nbcnews.com

How to stay healthy when bringing home groceries

NBC News’ Tom Costello shares experts’ advice about what steps to take before bringing your groceries into your house — like leaving non-perishable items in the garage for several days and to use a disinfectant wipe on all containers.
www.nbcnews.com www.nbcnews.com

I do what is suggested in this video

I also wash my produce (because many people may have handled it) in a mix of soapy water because coronavirus has a lipid membrane and is vulnerable to soap.
 
House Cat said:
www.nbcnews.com

How to stay healthy when bringing home groceries

NBC News’ Tom Costello shares experts’ advice about what steps to take before bringing your groceries into your house — like leaving non-perishable items in the garage for several days and to use a disinfectant wipe on all containers.
www.nbcnews.com www.nbcnews.com

I do what is suggested in this video

I also wash my produce (because many people may have handled it) in a mix of soapy water because coronavirus has a lipid membrane and is vulnerable to soap.
Click to expand...

FYI

globalnews.ca

Do you need to wash fruits and vegetables with soap? Coronavirus experts weigh in - National | Globalnews.ca

As the new coronavirus continues to spread, some Canadians are worried about whether the virus can live on the skin of fruits and vegetables.
globalnews.ca globalnews.ca
 
Yes. Before I didn't. Now our groceries are delivered to our garage. From there I empty them to one side of our kitchen island without touching them and dispose of the bags. Wash hands when done. Wipe down everything that is in packaging/boxes/cans/cartons and move to the other side of our island. Empty produce into a sink filled with water and a drop or two of Dawn. Take out trash with all the bags, wash hands. Rinse produce really, really well and move to a strainer to dry, wash hands. Put things away, wash hands, disinfect my counter.

I have always used a white vinegar and water spray to clean my kitchen counters (and still do) as I generally hate commercial products and their scents. Plus, better for us, the environment, and the wallet. However after the grocery process I do spray with a bleach & water solution, let sit, and wipe very, very well with damp cloths until removed. I hate bleach.

This whole process leaves me exhausted and I do think it's overkill. I had read a few articles stating you don't need to do all of this and they were convincing. However even after I had resolved not to do all of this, it turned out to be wired into me already (and my DH, who has never been aware of the existence of germs prior to Covid-19, even asked me to keep doing it!). So I have continued to do it, but now the pressure and stress of it being an imperfect process is lessened. That makes it more bearable.

I'm not concerned that the virus is on the food itself (except for produce). It's more the packaging and bags.
 
I am unable to find any other source that recommends cleaning with household vinegar to kill viruses. CDC and NSF Do not recommend it.
 
Additional info.
"There is currently no evidence to support transmission of COVID-19 associated with food. Get answers to other questions about COVID-19 and food from CDC, the Food and Drug Administrationexternal icon, and the U.S. Department of Agricultureexternal icon."

Food Safety and Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) | CDC

Currently there is no evidence to support transmission of COVID-19 associated with food.
www.cdc.gov www.cdc.gov

www.sciencealert.com

Do You Really Have to Disinfect All Groceries Now? An Expert Explains

There is no evidence currently that COVID-19 is transmitted by food.
www.sciencealert.com www.sciencealert.com

www.fda.gov

Selecting and Serving Produce Safely

As you enjoy fresh produce, follow these safe handling tips to help protect yourself and your family.
www.fda.gov www.fda.gov

"
Do I really need to disinfect all of the individual boxes & baggies everything came in?
I think that this is also advice that does not make scientific sense. If you are concerned about the outside of food packages being contaminated, I suggest that you wash your hands and/or sanitize your hands before you sit down to eat any food that you might've taken out of those containers. And guess what, washing your hands before you eat is a best practice even when we're not in a pandemic!

Washing fresh produce with soap? Soap should absolutely not be used to wash food. Soap is not designed for food. As mentioned in the linked thread, soap can cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea if ingested.

Current recommendations by scientific experts, including the FDA, say to wash fresh fruits and vegetables in cold water. See my earlier answer for more details."
 
I wipe the outside of packages with bleach and water. I make a daily bottle of it, you don't need much bleach.

I don't use anything disposable as we're trying to not use too much paper products (I have plenty of paper towels, but use those for when you MUST throw away something), I use a rag, that rag gets put in the laundry room for washing afterwards I figure its got bleach on it so its probably safe by that time...lol

I have a fold up table on the porch. Everything gets put on that table, if its packaged, a quick wipe, then brought into the house. fruits and vegetables are usually farmed (full of sand and dirt) and those just get rinsed with water before putting away.

I do wear gloves while doing this because of the bleach (we got a problem with it sometimes...)

This has now become routine.
 
Yes, thank you @missy! More helpful articles, I think I will ditch the Dawn and go back to giving my produce get a water bath, rub, and rinse.
 
missy said:
Additional info.
"There is currently no evidence to support transmission of COVID-19 associated with food. Get answers to other questions about COVID-19 and food from CDC, the Food and Drug Administrationexternal icon, and the U.S. Department of Agricultureexternal icon."

Food Safety and Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) | CDC

Currently there is no evidence to support transmission of COVID-19 associated with food.
www.cdc.gov www.cdc.gov

www.sciencealert.com

Do You Really Have to Disinfect All Groceries Now? An Expert Explains

There is no evidence currently that COVID-19 is transmitted by food.
www.sciencealert.com www.sciencealert.com

www.fda.gov

Selecting and Serving Produce Safely

As you enjoy fresh produce, follow these safe handling tips to help protect yourself and your family.
www.fda.gov www.fda.gov

"
Do I really need to disinfect all of the individual boxes & baggies everything came in?
I think that this is also advice that does not make scientific sense. If you are concerned about the outside of food packages being contaminated, I suggest that you wash your hands and/or sanitize your hands before you sit down to eat any food that you might've taken out of those containers. And guess what, washing your hands before you eat is a best practice even when we're not in a pandemic!

Washing fresh produce with soap? Soap should absolutely not be used to wash food. Soap is not designed for food. As mentioned in the linked thread, soap can cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea if ingested.

Current recommendations by scientific experts, including the FDA, say to wash fresh fruits and vegetables in cold water. See my earlier answer for more details."
Click to expand...

Now...about that soap thing. We wash our dishes that we are going to eat food off with soap. & I'm rinsing my produce as thoroughly as I rinse my dishes.
And I still don’t get the only water thing. How can you be sure you rinsed off all the little viruses? As I said recently, if cold water is enough, then why do we use soap, hot water and two rounds of happy birthday to wash our hands?
And how much water? Under the tap for two happy birthdays?
My take is that I am going to be as careful as I as I know how. So far the experts haven’t made be feel terribly reassured.
 
Jimmianne said:
Now...about that soap thing. We wash our dishes that we are going to eat food off with soap. & I'm rinsing my produce as thoroughly as I rinse my dishes.
And I still don’t get the only water thing. How can you be sure you rinsed off all the little viruses? As I said recently, if cold water is enough, then why do we use soap, hot water and two rounds of happy birthday to wash our hands?
And how much water? Under the tap for two happy birthdays?
My take is that I am going to be as careful as I as I know how. So far the experts haven’t made be feel terribly reassured.
Click to expand...

I think if you rinse the soap thoroughly you’re fine. The mere rubbing and washing the produce with water however is probably sufficient. This virus isn’t as hardy as the cold virus as an example. Fruit etc absorbs water and soap where’s our dishes do not. Just as an example how it is different re rinsing.

I completely understand your POV. And don’t disagree. We all yet do what’s comfortable for us and what makes sense.

As @canuk-gal says “keep calm and hand wash on”❤️
 
Your dishes are not absorbent while some fruits and veggies are. I don’t store apples next to onions because the apples will absorb that onion flavor. So even if you rinse them well they probably retain some of whatever cleaner you are washing/soaking them in. I would never use bleach on a food product...a quick rinse in soapy water as long as rinsed well probably won’t hurt but I don’t want soapy produce either. The recommendation to wash hands for 20 seconds to ensure detergent is thoroughly worked into your hands...to reach the virus that may be hiding in skin folds, crevices, under nails etc. How long would I have to scrub a leaf of lettuce to acheive the same result? I don’t believe it would still be edible, lol.

But folks, keep doing what you’re doing if it makes you feel better...we all just gotta get through this. ;)2
 
I’m probably a bit paranoid, but I clean everything that comes into the house.

I have a station set up in my garage. There’s an area for “dirty” items from outside and an area for sanitized items. I have a bunch of clean reusable bags to package up sanitized items to bring into the house.

If it’s something that can sit around for a while I just leave it to decontaminate for 2-3 days (like paper towels). Any packaged food gets sprayed down with an 80% ethanol solution that I allow to evaporate (I can’t leave cookies for 3 days!). Produce gets washed down in the utility sink using a food grade soap (not dish soap). All external packaging and plastic bags go into a bin in the garage.

I produce alcohol at home and have a lot of cleaning supplies specific for brewing and daft line maintenance. Nobody really panic bought that stuff so I’m good.
 
I try not to touch anything that comes into the house. If someone else wants to disinfect/clean stuff, they are free to do so. For packages, we leave them outside for a while. I usually wait 3 days to touch everything, lol.
 
1ofakind said:
How long would I have to scrub a leaf of lettuce to acheive the same result? I don’t believe it would still be edible, lol.
Click to expand...
Exactly. Rinsing or soaking something isn't really the same as disinfecting. There best way to disinfect is by cooking it, not eating it raw.

While it's true there's no evidence of transmission via food, there's little evidence of transmission via hand touching, either, yet we wash hands and clothes because we fear touching our faces with our hands, and having the virus get into our respiratory tract that way. It's therefore plausible that putting raw foods into the same oral cavity that connects the nose and the mouth, makes it so that small particles of food, or your saliva in vapor form, have the potential to transmit the virus to your nose through the oral cavity.

Hence why I'm really limiting the raw foods that I'm eating and quarantining the fruit, rather than believing this or that has a disinfecting effect. I'm not willing to eat soap and bleach absorbed into the fruit.

What I'm willing to believe is that there's scant to no evidence of food transmission because most people eat cooked foods, not raw. I am horrified by coworkers who eat raw leaf salads already bought all prepackaged, every day, because I think they are taking needless risks, but who am I to tell them not to enjoy their salads if that's what's keeping them same in these stressful times?
 
We've always used vinegar/water/alcohol spritz on the produce.
Otherwise we just unload onto the enclosed front porch and wait a couple of days. Passive and just as effective.
You can just unpack/store freezer items/pantry staples right away if you don't plan on touching them for 72hrs. Corona lasts longest on solid/nonporous surfaces. It can only live @24 on paper/cardboard.
Just wipe down your milk/juice containers before you put them in the fridge.
Wipe down any surfaces you touch and wash the hands.
 
mellowyellowgirl said:
Can stomach acid kill the virus?
Click to expand...

I don’t think so. Gastrointestinal symptoms are rampant with coronavirus19. I recently read a paper that speculates the virus gets from the gastrointestinal tract to the lungs via the lymph system. I’ve heard of many serious cases of COVID19 starting with severe gastrointestinal symptoms. :(
 
I read about an immune compromised Coronavirus patient in South Carolina who caught the virus after a three week quarantine from someone with CV19 who shopped for her and left the grocery bags on her stoop. The patient either got the virus from the shopping bag handles or the packages of food. She did not wear gloves, etc. I read this in the news. This patient was also cured with hydroxychlorquine.
 
We do everything people mention here and more. Wash grocery packages with soap and or let them sit out for four days, repackage food into different clean bags, etc. use gloves and masks and glasses to handle and process new groceries, etc.

It’s a total PIA and takes a long time. We live in LA, so feel like we are at higher risk for grocery being vector. We have stopped buying veggies and fruits that cannot be washed with soap or cooked.
 
LightBright said:
I don’t think so. Gastrointestinal symptoms are rampant with coronavirus19. I recently read a paper that speculates the virus gets from the gastrointestinal tract to the lungs via the lymph system. I’ve heard of many serious cases of COVID19 starting with severe gastrointestinal symptoms. :(
Click to expand...

I hope this brings a little comfort!=)2
Stomach(gastric) acid is only present in the stomach itself (secreted by gastric glands in the lining) and will kill the virus if ingested.
The intestinal tract itself is like a giant mucus membrane. It doesn't produce gastric acid. The pancreas neutralizes the hydrochloric acid of the stomach.
Think more like 'never ending nose'.
 
missy said:
I think you are A OK dear @mellowyellowgirl. After all Australia is doing an amazing job at keeping Covid 19 away. As for @OoohShiny I do not know where he lives (not being nosy just curious lol) but I have a feeling with the groceries you will be OK too @OoohShiny but please dont tempt fate too much. I want the both of you around here for a very long time. :halo:
Click to expand...

You are far too kind :))


I am in the UK!

TBH it's usually my good lady and her dad doing the shopping - I HATE shopping for groceries, it's like watching my life disappear before my eyes... :D lol

Clothes, shoes, bling and watches, though... that's a different matter ;) :P
 
ItsMainelyYou said:
Stomach(gastric) acid is only present in the stomach itself (secreted by gastric glands in the lining) and will kill the virus if ingested.
The intestinal tract itself is like a giant mucus membrane. It doesn't produce gastric acid. The pancreas neutralizes the hydrochloric acid of the stomach.
Click to expand...
I still find it amazing that our bodies can create a corrosive substance, contain it within a sac of squishy stuff, then neutralise it and suck the nutrients out of what remains - incredible! :))
 
Coronavirus lives up to 24 hours on cardboard. I read one source that said 2 to 3 days. I have kids in the house. They will surely grab that box of crackers and eat right from the box.

I will not to risk it.
 
No, I handle and cook my food the same as before.

It's a respiratory virus. Unless I'm snorting my food instead of eating it, I think I'll be OK.
 
HI:

I've never soaped my leafy veggies before but now I am. And you know what? I cannot believe the amount of dirt--yes dirt--that in left behind in the sink! I washed and will have to rewash the kale today--I almost needed a toothbrush to get the dirt off! What the hell!

Maybe its the pound of dirt I've eaten over the years that has kept me healthy. LOL

cheers--Sharon
 
ItsMainelyYou said:
I hope this brings a little comfort!=)2
Stomach(gastric) acid is only present in the stomach itself (secreted by gastric glands in the lining) and will kill the virus if ingested.
The intestinal tract itself is like a giant mucus membrane. It doesn't produce gastric acid. The pancreas neutralizes the hydrochloric acid of the stomach.
Think more like 'never ending nose'.
Click to expand...

Isn’t the suspected origin of the virus people eating pangolin or bat?
 
House Cat said:
Isn’t the suspected origin of the virus people eating pangolin or bat?
Click to expand...

Not exactly, it's transmitted by handling diseased animals and touching their mucous membranes(face) in unsanitary wet markets or housing said animals at their homes until market day.
 
House Cat said:
Isn’t the suspected origin of the virus people eating pangolin or bat?
Click to expand...

No. They suspected bats infected another intermediate species (which was never identified) and then jumped from the intermediate species to humans. Bats were never sold at that wet market. Plus, there's another theory based upon old complaints about a US-funded Wuhan research center that lab researchers inadvertently brought the virus out of a Wuhan lab where they were studying bats, on their unwashed hands or their shoes.

No theory advanced by a scientist has posited that people were eating bats.
 
First, I put all the groceries on plastic bags in the quarantine area of our formal living area. I wash all perishables with Clorox wipes and wait for it to dry (not good to touch wet). Then I put them in the fridge. I leave the nonperishables in that area for 3-4 days and only clean which item I need.
 
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