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Original poster

How do you sanitise your shopping?

248 replies

Lottiebugz22 · 09/04/2020 15:58

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?

OP posts:
Inkpaperstars · 10/04/2020 04:42

Food packaging (and maybe some raw unpeeled food) is surely just like any other object that can enable fomite transmission (the virus causing infection by remaining in a surface and then being transferred to another person).

That is why handwashing is being advised all the the time. If it were literally just transmitted through droplets being breathed in or landing in your eyes, the handwashing agenda wouldn't be such a big deal.

An infected person may have virus particles on their hands from coughing, sneezing, touching their face or after going to the toilet. If they don't wash their hands regularly they are more likely to transfer the virus to surfaces they touch. That is why they are being asked to wash their hands, not because of transmission through breathing. An uninfected person is being asked to wash their hands regularly so that if they picked up these germs (transferred to surfaces by touch or by droplets landing on them) they will hopefully remove it before touching their face. I guess it is also possible that droplets breathed or coughed out etc could land on the hands of a nearby uninfected person so it isn't all about fo ite transmission, but that's a big part of it.

If we accept that the virus might be viable for a while on a metal door handle or a plastic biro (which everyone does really), it probably is just as viable on metal or plastic food packaging. The big difference I think is that we probably touch things like our lounge doorhandle all day long, so if there is anything on that the chances of us transferring it to our face before we next wash our hands are quite high. Also if someone in the house is infected they could keep transferring germs to the handle. With food packaging on the other hand, you only touch it occasionally so it is realistic to remember to wash your hands after putting it away and after using it. Also hopefully if the item did have viable virus particles on it they are degrading over time without being replaced.

Aderyn19 · 10/04/2020 10:26

Thank you differentnameforthis. I wasn't really sure what to do about eggs - felt daft washing everything else and then just sticking eggs straight in the fridge. But will stop dunking them in soapy water now

thegcatsmother · 10/04/2020 15:33

I am hiding the good chocolate in a secure biscuit tin location for the safety of the family, just in case it's harbouring dangerous bacteria. I took one for the team and ate the chocolate to check it was OK. It was, but I only did it for the safety of dh and ds.

1forAll74 · 03/04/2021 03:10

I don't sanitise anything.. I have once or twice washed my hands properly, if I have brought in a cardboard box from an online delivery,as boxes are handled by various people throughout their journey.. I have never bought any sanitiser at all.

chatw00 · 03/04/2021 03:38

I don't. Vegetables get washed before being used and I move eggs from the carton into the special little holders in the fridge. Sometimes might wipe down the milk container if it's a bit damp / has condensation on it.

sanityisamyth · 03/04/2021 03:51

Zombie thread!! Why has a year old thread been resurrected???

FictionalCharacter · 03/04/2021 03:59

There’s no need. Get home, wash hands. Put shopping away, wash hands again. Wash hands before cooking. That’s it.
I work in a university with a lot of people who do Covid research, and not a single one of them washes groceries. I think the Government messaging about Covid has generally been terrible, but hands, face, space really is the right message.

EmmaGrundyForPM · 03/04/2021 04:05

ZOMBIE THREAD

RaeRaeMama · 03/04/2021 04:41

Can't believe people actually do this

RaeRaeMama · 03/04/2021 04:42

@MigginsMs

some people on here are off their bloody heads, seriously
I know right
Alma2021 · 03/04/2021 04:48

Apart from washing hands we haven't taken any extra precaution during the pandemic. And we get daily deliveries (groceries, Amazon etc). Never sanitised anything. We are a large household, we go out a lot (school etc) and no one caught it.
I'm amazed at what I have been reading on this thread.

Alma2021 · 03/04/2021 04:52

Washing eggs fgs Shock I only wash fruits and vegetables but that's because I'm scared of dangerous pesticides/chemicals, not the virus Grin

Sparklingbrook · 03/04/2021 04:52

@sanityisamyth

Zombie thread!! Why has a year old thread been resurrected???
Yes, all a bit weird. Confused

I assume there's some people still doing it a year on?

BadMudda · 03/04/2021 05:04

@Oxyiz

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!

Absolutely spot on!

We clean out stuff too. Always.

daisychain01 · 03/04/2021 05:18

I'm amazed at what I have been reading on this thread.

Why be amazed? One year ago we knew very little about Coronavirus. It was frightening for people and they took what they felt were safety measures to protect themselves and their family.

People coming on a thread like this decrying the actions people took back at the start of the pandemic, for their own valid reasons, need to check their thinking, for fear they may be coming across as belittling other people's fears.

And for the poster who was keeping their OCD under control, I hope you've got through the past year OK, it must have been a very challenging time for you Flowers

ItsDinah · 03/04/2021 05:24

I don't ,but I have for many years treated all packaging from supermarket as if it were dirty . I wash hands as soon as I get in the house and before I touch cupboard or fridge doors, and am careful to use clean hand/dirty hand technique so doors are not contaminated when packaging is put away. Then wash hands again. When I take things out to use them,I treat them as if packaging is not clean i.e. I'd wash hands after handling packaging and before touching food.

MeanderingGently · 03/04/2021 05:38

I used to wipe down certain things, such as milk cartons which are going in the fridge, even before COVID.
I certainly sanitise everything now.

I use a clean cloth and sanitiser, and literally sanitise the lot. Copious amounts of sanitiser, wipe every single surface of cartons, tins, packaging and so on. Like other posters, I unpack things which I can, eg. items which have been machine packed in the factory before distribution, it's only the outer packaging which has been handled, shipped, and then handled again by shelf-stackers and through the tills.

I buy fruit and veg in packaging which can be sanitised, but do oranges, lemons, avocados and so on individually.

I shall continue to do this for a long time to come, I have never liked the fact that so much is handled before it comes into my clean cupboards/fridge anyway. I am not just worried about COVID, colds and flu are transmitted through touch and pre-COVID an awful lot of people never washed their hands properly after the toilet...why would I want other people's germs on my food? Best way to keep any sort of infection down. Coupled with the fact that it puts my mind at rest and really doesn't impact on anyone else....

Sparklingbrook · 03/04/2021 05:39

People coming on a thread like this decrying the actions people took back at the start of the pandemic, for their own valid reasons, need to check their thinking, for fear they may be coming across as belittling other people's fears

Not everyone replying since it was resurrected realises it's a Zombie presumably?

joystir59 · 03/04/2021 05:49

Just wash fruit. And hands after I've finished putting shopping away.

ToManderleyAgain · 03/04/2021 06:11

@Aderyn19

Spray with Dettol or dunk in Milton. Dunk eggs in soapy water and ditch the cartons
By washing eggs the cuticle is removed, making them more vulnerable to ingress of bacteria www.yourchickens.co.uk/care-and-advice/storing-your-eggs-1-4979924 It is better practice not to wash your eggs Smile
ToManderleyAgain · 03/04/2021 06:15

Haha sorry, have just seen this is a zombie thread!

Esquire3 · 03/04/2021 06:16

I use cheap anti bac wipes for everything in wrapper(apart from frozen because that can go straight in fridge) and then fill bowl with water for cans and fruit and dry off...done!

GeorgiaGirl52 · 03/04/2021 06:18

@ScarfLadysBag

We just dispose of bags, put food away and wash hands. And just rinse fruit and veg as normal. I'm comfortable the level of risk involved is very small.
This^
TheBullfinch · 03/04/2021 06:39

Why start a thread and then not participate in it?

I don’t do anything beyond using hand sanitiser and hand washing. Some of you sound ... troubled.

Brownteddybear · 03/04/2021 06:46

@TheBullfinch

Why start a thread and then not participate in it?

I don’t do anything beyond using hand sanitiser and hand washing. Some of you sound ... troubled.

Have you even read the thread?

As numerous PP have pointed out it's a zombie thread that someone has weirdly resurrected.