Well I won't be shopping at Iceland again!

[Crymblecrumble]

Just perusing Facebook and I've seen that people are going mental over a policy on Iceland's website they says if an NHS worker picks up an item they can't put it back because of cross contamination, and that they have to buy it.

So I checked it was on their website however it appears to have been removed now but I found it last night.

www.iceland.co.uk/customer-support/help-articles#coronavirus

Looks dodgy to me, and the wording doesn't sound very professional.
And as you say, it's no longer on the site. Interesting.

I suspect a disgruntled member of staff trying to get them in trouble!

The screen shot was taken by me last night. Sorry I should have clarified

Don't see what's wrong with that

It’s been removed so it must have been written in error by someone who didn’t actually know.

@TheReluctantCountess but if I go shopping before work with my badge I haven't contaminated anything!

Anyone who picks anything up shouldn't be putting it back. I've ended up with a couple of things because ii forgot and picked up stuff, so brought it.

If this is true then I can't see any reason to be outraged? The vast majority of posts on here are from people who want things to be super stringent and heavily "policed" so as to minimise the risk of infection. Iceland (again, if true) are doing this. Why is it a problem?

The local shop near us stops hospital workers going in to the store in their uniforms. Always have. It's a cross contamination issue.

I know that. It must have been written by someone who didn’t actually realise the truth.

You can shop whenever you like.

I'd rather be surrounded by NHS workers than by absolute morons who have no idea about cross contamination or social distancing. If anyone knows how to avoid infecting others it's the NHS workers. Think Iceland have shot themselves in the foot here.

I am an NHS nurse and would never dream of going out in my uniform and would have a shower. This is to protect myself and my family as much as anyone else. I don't see a problem but as you say it has gone now. It's a tough time we just need everyone to practice social distancing, hand washing and infrequent shopping.

So I go into Iceland and use my badge to gain access to the nhs hours, and then as I'm walking around I pick hi a packet of something to turn it round to see if it's ok for allergies.. it's not. I still have to buy it?

I work in icu (currently at nightingale but usually kids icu) we have such stringent standards of hand washing that this is offensive. Also the only staff shopping in uniform should be community staff as we are told not to travel in uniform anyway as standard but obviously district nurses are unable to get changed

It doesn't say anything about uniform! It says if you're an nhs worker and want to access their nhs hours everything you touch must be bought!

NHS workers will be much less likely to pass on the virus than randoms. This policy is ridiculous and unenforceable.

It looks like someone made an error on the website and amended it.

I'm sure Iceland are quaking in their boots at the thought of losing your custom.

If I was wanting to know about an item in reference to allergies I’d ask a staff member to clarify.

Re: putting stuff back that you have touched, this thread might be of interest. I had read it just before I clicked on this one.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/coronavirus/3881904-Is-this-normal-behaviour-in-supermarkets-now

I’m only touching items I’m committed to buying these days. I thought we all were.

I don’t see the issue. It should be standard that nobody is touching things they are not going to buy.

realhousewife

I check whether items are suitable for vegetarians, as you'd be suprised how many sweets/choc aren't. I check whether certain things have alcohol in them.

If I'm buying new cat food, when my cats decide they dislike their current, I check to confirm it's a 'complete' pet food, look for higher meat %.

Also, for smaller items like jars of spices or fruit yogurts, they can be mixed up on the shelf, especially in aldi, where they have several variants on one ticket.

I wouldn't expect staff to know all of that information for every item, or to have to spend time checking labels for me.

I'm sure the staff don't have an encyclopedic knowledge of what items contain which allergen so you would be having unnecessary contact with them while they read the back of the box to find the answer.

I'm pretty sure that Tesco have the same rule but for everyone not just NHS workers - don't touch something unless you are going to buy it and if you touch it you should buy it and not put it back.

It seems a reasonable request to me as long as it applies to everyone. It's not right to single out NHS workers.

@TheRealHousewife - sorry, but I wouldn't expect a staff member to know what was suitable for my daughter to eat (allergic to peanuts, some types of nuts but can eat almonds and hazelnuts, soya, most types of beans but can eat french beans, dairy milk and milk products but can eat eggs, fine with gluten but have to watch out for soya flour in bread). Just to clarify, these allergies are life-threatening anaphylaxis inducing allergies, so it is vital for me to get it right. Where possible I try to buy products and brands that we are familiar with the contents, but with the recent shortages in supermarkets this hasn't always been possible. Shopping for her is a nightmare at the best of times, never mind at the moment, and I have to sometimes read the packaging of several items before deciding which to buy- I carry hand sanitiser in my pocket and use it regularly while shopping but I am not going to put the additional responsibility of finding foods that my daughter can eat onto a supermarket worker, who already has enough to deal with in these stressful times. Therefore I will pick things up and read them. I'm not in a financial position to buy everything I pick up to read the packaging regardless of if I can eat it myself; we are on a tight budget and I don't really want 5 different brands of the same type of item after having read all of the packets to find the one that my daughter can eat. I do my best to stick to what we know to limit how much picking up / putting down I have to do whilst shopping, but it's impossible to avoid it completely!
With regard to the OP, there is a lot of stuff popping up on FB right now but if this was a genuine store policy aimed at NHS workers, then I hope that the company has had a sharp re-think and changed this policy sharpish.

"if I go shopping before work with my badge I haven't contaminated anything!"

Well you have if you are carrying the virus but haven't had any symptoms.