How to clean groceries with limited supplies

[Tiger35]

Hello

I have fairy liquid, hand wash, and some anti-bac floor cleaning wipes that say they also kill H1N1 flu virus.

I got a grocery order delivered today and feel the need to clean stuff before we use it, specifically milk and a packet of cheese for tonight.

What do you think is the best way with what I have? I’d ordered other cleaning stuff but didn’t turn up so the above are my only options.

Thanks!

Just wash your hands before and after handling the packaging surely?

Wiping with a cloth dunked in washing up liquid is fine.

How do you think cleaning the outer packaging on milk or cheese is helpful?

What is it designed to achieve?

It’s meant to achieve getting rid of any potential trace of virus so when my husband inevitably touches them and then forgets to wash his hands before touching his face we don’t all get ill.

Wiping it down with washing up liquid and water is perfectly adequate.

Could you remove the cheese from its packaging and wrap in cling film instead?
Wipe over milk bottle with damp cloth and hot soapy water.

But presumably you’ve touched the packaging already when taking the delivery?

If you’re concerned, wipe it with washing up liquid and water

Interestingly (to me) I was not bothering about wiping groceries, thinking I would just wash my hands instead. I mentioned it to a friend - a nurse who was part of an international task force responding to epidemics. He had a fit and told me I must wipe everything down.

It was a quick call and so I didn't get chance to chat much about it, except to promise I would...

I've been wiping our fridge & freezer stuff down with soapy water. Everything else goes straight into shed for 3 days.

I've watered down some washing up liquid in an old bottle for this. Squirt on a cloth and then wipe all packaging. Soapy enough but doesn't leave everything soaking.

It only lives for up to 24 hours on packaging. 72 hours on hard/shiny surfaces like door handles.

Just wash your hands.

You need to clean it with 60% alcohol or scrub it for over 20 seconds for it to make any difference.

Or, take fresh food out of the packaging and in to your boxss etc. Sorted.

Put fairy liquid on milk bottles and leave to stand in sink.

Then cut the packet of cheese open, plop it into Tupperware without touching the cheese with your hands if possible.

Wash hands. Put cheese away in fridge.

Wash milk, paying particular attention to handle and top.

Sorry I meant to say - that's what I've been doing. No idea if it's the best way or not!

"For contained or packaged goods," says Prof Bloomfield, "either store them for 72 hours before using them or spray and wipe plastic or glass containers with bleach [that is carefully diluted as directed on the bottle]. From the BBC

I would use a bubbly Fairy solution from what you have OP.

The virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is stable for several hours to days in aerosols and on surfaces, according to a new study from National Institutes of Health, CDC, UCLA and Princeton University scientists in The New England Journal of Medicine. The scientists found that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was detectable in aerosols for up to three hours, up to four hours on copper, up to 24 hours on cardboard and up to two to three days on plastic and stainless steel.

So on plastic packaging there is a risk for up to 72 hours

So the faffing around of cleaning produce is easier than teaching dh to wash his hands? 3 year olds have been doing a marvellous job of washing their hands but your dh can't

washing up liquid and water on a dishcloth. wipe over leave to stand until I have done quite a few and only open the fridge once or twice to play fridge tetris.

I wash fruit in nets in washing up water (cold) and rinse in plain water. (cauliflower, lemons, oranges plums etc)

I do think this is going a bit far unless you have someone in your house who is extremely vulnerable. I can't think of a time I've ever caught a virus from packaging - and yet they must all live on it in a similar way. 99% everything I've caught in the past 14 years has come via my dcs.

Just set them aside for a few hours:
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/03/26/dont-panic-about-shopping-getting-delivery-or-accepting-packages/?fbclid=IwAR3clwRH0Eh0KX_xDRtsDrG0DJB8aqx9KRMpaAediPvRgrQ388Rky0BIba8&utm_campaign=wp_opinions&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook

Washing up liquid and a sponge. It can live on surfaces so op isn't being over the top but actually quite sensible.

Warm soapy water will damage the fatty sheath around the virus. You want it properly foamy and left on for at least a minute.

Dry everything thoroughly before putting it away as damp isn’t a good thing for storage.

If you can, put store cupboard supplies aside for a few days.

I’d save the hand gel for skin as there are limits to the effective things you can put on your skin.

If you’re unsure about a product, search the ingredients for the key ingredient and google it in a string with “enveloped viruses” or “corona viruses” which should bring up research on their efficacy against similar types of viruses.

For things other than shopping: If you have bleach you can use it to make a solution of 0.05% sodium hypochlorite which has been shown to be effective against covid-19 when left on for 5 minutes. Obviously this can damage surfaces, being bleach. Check the small print on the back of the bottle - the concentration is usually around 5%. So you would mix it 1part bleach to 100 parts water (or two teaspoonful in a litre of water). This has been shown to be effective against covid-19 when left on for 5 minutes.