How do you sanitise your shopping?

[Lottiebugz22]

Do you wash your tins with soap for 20 seconds? What do you do about bread in paper or meat or plastic cartons? And what about fresh fruit and vegetables?

The virus can supposedly live on plastic surfaces for days. If you're vulnerable then it's not too farstretched to wash and wipe stuff.

Even ignoring COVID-19, I've watched people sneeze and cough all over things in the past, or pick them up and put them back. People are disgusting!

Farfetched even!

www.independent.co.uk/life-style/coronavirus-spread-food-shopping-clean-packaging-home-delivery-spread-safe-a9434726.html

'According to the World Health Organisation, the risk of catching the virus that causes Covid-19 from a package that has been moved, travelled, and exposed to different conditions and temperatures is also very low.

Professor Baker agrees, adding that while the risk is “not zero” when it comes to supermarket and home food deliveries, it is “relatively minor”.

“Things that are in packages, I would maintain a degree of common sense with the view that they are unlikely to make anybody sick”.

Despite the low risk of contamination, if you feel particularly anxious about the possibility of the virus spreading on food packaging you can use antibacterial wipes or disinfectant spray before storing them away in your cupboards or fridge.'

It does say not to use any chemicals on food, etc. I think I personally find the use of quite potent chemicals like bleach etc. more of a health risk than the slim chance of catching the virus from packaging so I'd rather not use/inhale more chemicals than we need to, but we aren't in any high-risk categories.

Fresh fruit and veg I empty out of the packaging and decant into my own containers then throw the packaging away.

Stuff intended for the fridge and freezer, which can't be removed from packaging, such as milk, cheese, meat etc I wash in soapy water, rinse then dry with a towel.

Cupboard stuff like tins and packets - and also eggs, I put into quarantine. Basically I put the shopping bag of items into our spare bedroom and leave it untouched for at least 4 days. After that time, any virus that might have been on it will have died, so it's then safe to put away.

We try to shop as infrequently as possible. Currently it's about every 10 - 14 days. When we run out of the fresh stuff, we just go without and eat other things until we need enough things to make it worth the risk of going to the shop.

Wipe everything thoroughly with anti-bacterial wipes. On items that are difficult to wipe and can’t be transferred into something else, eg bread, I wipe as much as possible and then spray dettol in the creases etc. I empty multipacks in to bags and church original packaging.

*chuck

I’m also only buying packaged fruit and veg. I discard packaging and then wash thoroughly

I don't, but do quarantine anything non perishable for 72 hours before unpacking the shopping bags and putting it away. Perishables I just wash hands between handling the packaging and eating the food.

I just can’t sanitise shopping. I have too much to do. It’s a risk I’m prepared to accept.

I don't.

Dunk eggs in soapy water

Wtaf?! Why on earth would you do this?

The chances of the virus being on an egg in an egg box must be absolutely miniscule! If you’re that worried surely you’d just wash your hands immediately after handling it when you use it!

I do not.

And the use of wipes for all this is hugely depressing as well.

I don't. Unpack and wash hands. Always wash fruit and veg (in water) anyway before using.

This has been linked on here before (American doctor describing how he cleans his groceries).

some people on here are off their bloody heads, seriously

And washing eggs damages the film on the shell and can introduce bacteria into the egg.
There’s a reason eggs are not allowed to be washed before sale in the U.K.

Is this actually recommended by scientists anywhere?

No. Wash your hands regularly, particularly before preparing food and eating, and avoid touching your face.

Having watched people's behaviour in Tesco's on Monday I am very glad that we have been cleaning groceries as we bring them into the house.

It's not the manufacturing / transporting side of things that concerns me but rather other people shopping. On Monday I saw a young man kneel down in the aisle to look at the bottom shelf of vitamins. He was holding the shelf with his bare hand to balance himself and with his other hand he rifled through the boxes, picking things up and putting them back. He noticed me queueing to get past and he eventually got up and walked off without taking anything from that shelf - he had touched a LOT of stuff there and that was just one shelf.

I saw another woman pick up easter eggs, examine the packaging ad then put it back on the shelf for the next person to unwittingly pick up. These are just 2 examples.

We take it in turns to shop and we drive to the supermarket with bare hands. Get out of the car and lock up. Taking nothing but shopping bags and debit card in pocket. Put on gloves. Get a trolley. Clean the handle of the trolley if the shop as the facilities.

Get the shopping WITHOUT picking up stuff we don't want to buy. Scan and pack. Load the bags in to the boot. return the trollery. Take off gloves and store inside out in a freezer bag in side pocket of door.

Wipe hands with antibac / wipes and also clean steering wheel, door handle, key and debit card.

Drive home. Load all bags in the back door into the utility room. Wash hands, wipe door handles.

Then clean down the counter top next to the sink. Fill the sink with hot soapy water and a clean cloth. Place a towel onto the counter. Unload the shopping bag at a time onto the towel. Wash what we can by immersing and wipe what we can't (bread in wrapper) very thoroughly.

Dry the shopping and put it away. Clean down the sink area with antibac, roll all the teatowels, dish cloth into the towel and wash on a hot wash.

It's a process but we're quick at it now and it means we know what is in our house is as safe as it can be.

I wear marigolds and use warm dettol water.

I say this with kindness - some of you need to get a grip! It sounds like you're fastly developing OCD. You do know this virus isn't going to magically disappear anytime soon. Is this your new way of life?

you do realize that it is a 'virus' not bacteria therefore antibaccing stuff will do FA

I ordered a big pack of clinell wipes from Amazon and wipe the shopping down with that. anything in packet like apples/ bananas just gets tipped straight into the fruit bowl, all plastic tubs and tins get thoroughly wiped down.

I don't. I have previously recovered from OCD but can feel myself struggling already to keep it at bay. I know that if I start doing this it will take me down a dangerous path where in the medium-term my risk of harming myself will be far greater than my risk of being harmed by Coronavirus.

I have also struggled with ocd in the past and believe it’s not worth sanitising shoppign