What do shopping cleaners do with the insides of packets?

[Floatyboat]

Just wondering how people that like to clean their shopping deal with things inside the packaging.

Obviously you'd presume tins and cereal etc would not have been contaminated in the last 72 hours but what about other stuff, short shelf life items. Some fruit and veg can be from farm to fork in 48 hours. Bread as well won't have been in the bag for long.

Do you just leave it before opening, cook it all before eating or wash it? But you can't really wash bread.

This has also got me thinking about other things that may have recently touched in non obvious ways.

@cacaca, Also sorry that you cannot buy Milton (it's not due to me- I haven't bought any at all recently)- that must suck.

I still can’t decide which is the most batshit of the things I’ve read on here out of:

Hanging shopping on the washing line for days
Putting it all in the oven
Wiping food packages with bleach solution
Dunking eggs in soapy water

And how many people were doing this a month ago before lockdown when the chances of getting CV were actually greater than they will be now?

i think it is wise to keep one pair of shoes for outdoor use, take them off by the door and change into indoor ones/ slippers.
i do this and i also spray the soles with a cleaning fluid and leave them on their sides sole to sole to dry, on a mat just inside the door.
i heard an expert recommend this, maybe not the spraying part, but using only one pair outdoors and keeping it separate. in fact i always did this anyway. the unclean ground outside is not to be brought inside.

Does Milton on food not taste vile? Boak. I hate that stuff, I never even used it when my kids were babies, I steam sterilised

I don't get it op.

If you're not particularly worried then why did you start this thread?

Not worried as in anxious. I'd still rather not get coronavirus.

OP on many other threads you've advocated putting everything that comes into your home into the oven. That suggests an excessive level of concern to me, particularly as you say nobody in your house is vulnerable. I hope nobody reads your posts and thinks oh, that's a good idea, only to coronacook something that's flammable - the emergency services absolutely do not need any extra strain put on them right now by this sort of unnecessary silliness.

I’d rather catch it than wash and quarantine my shopping

I also highlighted the low temperature for short time. My feeling is it is better than bleach in terms of reliably denaturing the virus and not poisoning yourself. Feel free to disagree. I'm not a safety expert. There may be risks I have not considered. I think people make their own judgements.

For balance - we're not cleaning food. We don't have anyone in a vulnerable group - and I mean a vulnerable group as defined by the NHS, not a label someone's just put on themselves.

We keep trips to the shops to a minimum. Once a week to the big supermarket, perhaps another trip once a week to the small local shop to get milk. One person to shops. Try to visit mid-morning when it's quiet. Maintain social distancing when we're at the shops. No gloves, no masks. Straight home, wash hands. Put stuff away. Wash hands.

That's it.

I totally see where people are coming from with the mental health concerns. Obsessing about germs and contamination is not a healthy way to live. First it's food packaging and post, then it's clothing, then it's whatever else and you're on a downward spiral into never leaving the house because it's too dangerous.

For the overwhelming majority of us, Covid19 is a nasty bug which will keep you in bed feeling like crap for a few days. It's not a killer. It's not going to send you to hospital.

What's happened to risk assessment and keeping things in perspective?

Covid19 is a nasty bug which will keep you in bed feeling like crap for a few days. It's not a killer. It's not going to send you to hospital.
I really, really hope this is true. Reading people's experiences on here though - even the ones who don't go to hospital - it doesn't sound like any illness I've ever had before and I do not want anyone in my family to get it.

@Watertorture

There are loads of mild or asymptomatic cases. There are also loads of cases where people die.
You can not be sure what will happen to you, you can have a bit of a guess though based on age, sex etc.

I think making peace with the fact you will get it, whilst also being cautious is the best thing.

Reading people's experiences on here though - even the ones who don't go to hospital - it doesn't sound like any illness I've ever had before and I do not want anyone in my family to get it

My GP cousin and his wife have both just had it and it was no worse than a mild cold for both of them.

I know of course that posters on here (whether they had mild symptoms or bad) may not actually have had it as so few are tested - the only person I know in RL was younger and fitter than me and was hospitalised (thankfully better now). It's a lottery and I will do what I can to influence my chances.

Government advice is that there's no need to sanitise packaging. And, ergo, definitely no need to put everything in the oven or hang it on the washing line.

What is this system in stores for keeping packaging clean? I think that's guaranteed not to happen.
I agree washing hands essential. My dc won't do it every time though and I'm sure I sometimes miss a bit when hand washing - so it's a belt and braces approach to wash (or dispose of outer packaging) and also wash hands. It's not that cleaning packages means you don't wash your hands

The phrase "bathing her Tesco delivery" amused me.

@buttermilkwaffles that's hilarious. That poor cauliflower!

@SelfIsolatingBeforeItWasCool

That guidance makes me more inclined to wash it. What other non existent precautions is the government thinking exist. Certainly didn't see any shop assistant sterilise the under ripe pear I put back in Tesco the other day.

Oh do stop with the washing shopping nonsense

You can stop if you want to @nomore

Some people like washing their shopping. For various reasons. It doesn't harm any one and is not against any rules.

No one likes washing their shopping

OP you have a real problem here whether you care to admit it to yourself or not.

There is no need to wash your shopping.
The world has gone mad

Some people have far too much time on their hands

Different people different priorities I guess. Nobody needs to do anything.