Still wiping down groceries?

[Cam77]

Just wondered if anyone is still doing this? At the beginning we were told the virus can live on surfaces for X number of days, but as far as I’m aware, the powers that be never elaborated on whether it was a real risk of transmission.

I have elderly parents and am being extra cautious for their sakes. I was about to stop wiping a few weeks ago but then number started going again when I live. I know the risk is super small, but anyway, anyone else still consider this worth doing? Or was the science updated somewhere to say there’s no risk of transmission from groceries/parcels etc?

[SueEllenMishke]

Just wash your hands regularly and avoid touching your face!

[IceCreamAndCandyfloss]

If we are told to wash and sanitise hands after touching door handles, doors, and anything outside or in a shop, how is a food packet any different

Exactly. Unless food items are protected by the same magic schools are

[goatley]

Although since washing my groceries I have been able to happily drink my Diet Coke from the can. I don't usually drink from cans or bottles but now I know they are clean and disinfected its' okay.

[IncrediblySadToo]

@DishingOutDone

We still do - fill the sink with hot water then add a couple of teaspoons of thin bleach. When you think about all the people who have touched the packaging, why would you want that in your fridge etc. I think this is going to be a long term thing for us, but that's just our choice, in this household.

@DishingOutDone

It goes against the grain after 40 years, but I recently found this out...

Cold water should be used for dilution as hot water decomposes the active ingredient of bleach and renders it ineffective

[JinglingHellsBells]

Never done it and don’t know anyone who has. The virus can live on surfaces under lab conditions but in real life it’s so delicate it dies on touch.

@Bluntness100

So- why are doors propped open in stores? (to avoid touch)
Why were public toilets closed for months?
Why are tables and chairs cleaned in cafes between use?
why are plastic menus replaced with single use paper?
why are coins and notes refused in some places?
why are clothes in changing rooms put into quarantine for 3days OR changing rooms not open?

I could go on...

this is because anything that is touched by someone who is infected can stay infected for up to 3 days. Your post is illogical.

[TheMamaYo]

Yup, I am still wiping down. It’s a bit of extra effort, but I’m trying to be safe. I am fat, so really a bit worried about it all. With the news articles the last couple of days about Covid being found on food packaging, I am glad I’ve stuck to it, even though I am not sure at all if it’s doing any good.

[BuggerOffAndGoodDayToYou]

I never did. I just practice the same hygiene levels as normal. So I wash fruit and vegetables before actually using. And wash my hands before and during food prep.

The only “extra” I’ve been doing is wiping my desk, keyboard, mouse and phone at work with antibacterial wipes before using every morning as I know others use them from time to time.

[Zaphodsotherhead]

No. The amounts that 'can' live on packaging are tiny, not enough to make you ill (unless you have a compromised immune system, in which case you probably wipe down your shopping anyway because of flu, colds, all other viruses - don't you?)

[IncrediblySadToo]

@Thecobwebsarewinning

I didn’t do it. I wash my hands after unpacking the grocery delivery -mostly, sometimes I forgot at the beginning but I’m getting into the rhythm of it now.

I'm open to it not being necessary, but things like this just make no sense to me.

If a picker/packer Has Covid (they've tested positive near here) and they pick up a couple of pints of milk for you, then it gets delivered to your house, you put it in the fridge & wash your hands. Ok. But what about when
you get it out to make a cup of tea, do you wash your hands again?! If not - there's a point of transmission.

If I wash the bottle of milk, there's no Covid in my house to transmit.

I'd rather wash the bottle as it arrives than put the risk of transmission in the fridge & just wash my hands.

[CrunchyCarrot]

We have been doing so since the beginning of the outbreak and still carry on doing it now. It's become part of our routine. I just feel better doing it, probably the risk is very, very low.

[wakemeupbeforeyougoghgogh]

I still do. There is a good chance some of the stuff I have bought has been touched by another customer or a staff member earlier that day. I give a wipe down or leave the food things for 3 days (depending on if whether I want to put them straight in the fridge or not) so that I don't need to wash my hands everytime I take something out of my fridge

[TooTTootY]

@JinglingHellsBells

Never done it and don’t know anyone who has. The virus can live on surfaces under lab conditions but in real life it’s so delicate it dies on touch.

*@Bluntness100*

So- why are doors propped open in stores? (to avoid touch)
Why were public toilets closed for months?
Why are tables and chairs cleaned in cafes between use?
why are plastic menus replaced with single use paper?
why are coins and notes refused in some places?
why are clothes in changing rooms put into quarantine for 3days OR changing rooms not open?

I could go on...

this is because anything that is touched by someone who is infected can stay infected for up to 3 days. Your post is illogical.

Because surfaces touched constantly by multiple people, like door knobs, railings, menus etc... Will have a higher viral load than a food package that's been handled quickly / by less people / for a short time.

The risk is still low but it's obvious surely that something like a door handle that is touched throughout the day by potentially hundreds of people is more likely to have an increased risk than a loaf of bread from the shop that's been touched by fewer people and then delivered to your house.

[JS87]

@JinglingHellsBells

I really don't understand people who think there is no risk from food packaging.

Of course there is potentially!

If we are told to wash and sanitise hands after touching door handles, doors, and anything outside or in a shop, how is a food packet any different?

It's been touched by people at the warehouse, people unpacking it at the shop, shelf stackers, delivery drivers, other shoppers, and so on.

Also the virus lives better at below 4C so your fridge won't kill it.

Yes this. If the risk is negligible then sanitising our hands every 5 seconds when out (I exaggerate!) is also unnecessary. Of course sanitising our hands on entry to a shop reduces the risk of us contaminating shopping but if there is no risk to touching contaminated shopping then there is no point sanitising our hands upon entering a shop.

[CaptainMyCaptain]

DH works in the NHS and has worked with covid patients. He is quite laid back about it, goes to the pub now etc., but still thinks it's a good idea to wipe groceries down.

[Noextremes2017]

Not since April.

[DullDullWeather]

Never done it but I have nobody shielding in my home (that may have changed things)

Can I just ask, non aggressively, if those whom did or do wash things down, get food delivered during the Lockdown (as in a restaurant or fast food delivery)

[fluffiphlox]

Never bothered with this.

[Notcoolmum]

I did at the beginning. Now I just make sure I wash my hands and wipe the surfaces after putting things away. In my very small team at work 2 people are still washing theirs. I was quite surprised.

[TheAquaticDuchess]

I never have. Also pregnant, but no clear evidence that makes me any more vulnerable than anyone else. The risk is so small, and if you have good kitchen hygiene you mitigate the already small risk anyway.

[IncrediblySadToo]

@TooTTootY

3 supermarket pickers were found to have covid in a near by supermarket - it's a risk

Just because they happen to work as food pickers doesn't mean they didn't get the virus the way the evidence suggests people do, via human to human transmission.

That's not what I was saying!

What I'm saying is that if 3 pickers in a local supermarket have Covid, I feel the risk of them passing it on via packing people's shopping is enough of a risk to warrant me washing my shopping.

[Thehogfatherstolemycurry]

No, I did at the beginning when we didn't know as much about it as we do now.
When you think about it a lot of items have not been touched by that many people. A lot is packed at factory level mechanically then the boxes are cut open and put on the shelves so the outer box has been loaded and unloaded but the smaller pack inside not necessarily touched. Fruit and veg are often in those big trays so again not touched by lots of people during production or delivery. I decided the risk was small enough to not was it. I was my hands and work surfaces before and after unpacking.

[greeneyedlulu]

Still wiping down here and to be fair it's probably good practice anyway so I may just keep doing it. Seems pointless to clean the cupboards and fridge then fill them up with dirty stuff.

[TooTTootY]

You don't just sanitise your hands because of the risk of surface transmission. There is a few reasons.

Firstly, as stated, the viral load on an item has to be large enough to infect you. A shop picker collecting a pint of milk for you, the chance of the load being large enough to infect you is very low. It will be higher on things like door handles which are consistently touched throughout the day by hundreds of people.

Also, the main transmission for the virus is human to human contact. If someone sneezes on their hands and shakes yours in a matter of minutes then the viral load will be higher however you are more likely to catch it via droplets through things like speaking. A lot of these droplets can fall onto our hands and the hands of others hence why we are told not to touch our faces and break the chain of transmission by washing our hands.

The virus can live for X amount of time on different surfaces but it starts to die within hours. The amount of virus left after a number of hours will be much lower than when the initial person touched it which is why the risk is so low.

[catgirl1976]

We are still washing everything that comes into the house.

[FluffyKittensinabasket]

I normally set my post on fire and douse my groceries in bleach and then throw away.