Wiping Down Shopping

[Ilovemypantry]

This might have already been covered but without trawling through I just thought I’d ask anyway.

So...when you get your shopping home (or delivered) are you all cleaning every single item? If so, what are you using to clean with? Would an antibacterial wipe be suffice or does it need to be bleach? I am wiping things over with antibacterial wipe but a bit half heartedly tbh. It’s quite a daunting task having to wipe every single item before putting it away in the fridge/freezer/cupboard.
Just wondered how everyone else is tackling this.

We wipe everything

Its one of only two things that come in from the outside world.
The other thing being post...
Post goes into quartine for 4 days

No. Don’t quarantine post either.

“ If you have time to post here, you have time to wash a deadly virus off your shopping.”

I am breastfeeding whilst browsing/posting on MN. Can’t breastfeed and bleach shopping at the same time.

We remove anything that can be removed from packaging (e.g. individual crisps/chocolate bars are removed from multipack packaging) and doesn't need to be wiped.

Then for other items we wipe them with Alcohol wipes or antibac wipes (I feel less confident about those in case the Benzalkonium chloride/active ingredient doesn't denature Covid) and sometimes use dilute Milton/sterilizing tablet solution on a J-cloth. It takes ages but the virus can survive for 2-9 days on plastics and it's theoretically possible to get it from handling packaging and then rubbing eyes etc.

We open post with disposable gloves on and then either don't handle again or if it's something like a magazine that has come through the post then we handle that after 3 days of quarantine.

I wash or wipe everything down.I remove the fruit and veg from its packaging.Yes it takes ages but I have seen so many people coughing or sneezing then touching something and putting it back!

Isolating the cupboard stuff in the garage for a couple of days. Wiping down the fridge / freezer stuff with hot water and washing up liquid, then cleaning surface and washing hands.

I’m in a high-risk group (asthmatic) and I do exactly this.

Freezer stuff gets cleaned and put away. Cupboard stuff gets quarantined and then put away.

I have milk delivered and I wipe the bottles down because I don't imagine the milkman is fully sanitizing his hands after picking up everyone else's empty milk bottles. I've always wiped the bottles down as they're often wet or have a bit of dirt on them from being stood outside. Now I'm just a bit more careful and use warm soapy water.

I don't wash other groceries down but I do regularly wash my hands (even though I'm in the house all day). I think that's safe enough.

I do. We get told to wash hands because they might get contaminated from surfaces, shopping is a surface. Once it's in my house I want it to be a safe surface.

@Ilovemypantry

Thank you for the good wishes!

Interesting to see that nobody has answered my question about whether they do the wiping down of shopping during flu or norovirus outbreaks though. We've had norovirus go through almost our entire workforce several times! (Caught person-to-person, not from packaging. Well, presumably...)

Not wiping anything. We have no people in this house in a vulnerable group. Going shopping, putting stuff away, washing hands. That's it.

Antibacterial wipes are evil, evil things in terms of single use plastic but those concerns about litter and waste appear to have gone right out the window.

I’m opening post, putting letters away for 3 days, throwing away envelope and washing hands. No big deal as there are much less post anyway. The same process with non-food deliveries.

Grocery shopping is unpacked and fridge items are wiped with Dettol wipes. Fruits and vegs are going into the garage for 3 days, if needed earlier they are very carefully unpacked. Pockets and tins are quarantined for 3 days on the shelf. Lots of washing hands during this process and then while handling food. Floor wiped afterwards.

No takeaways, no eating things in the car on the way home. Shoes and coats are off straight away and staying near the door. But those are normal habits. I couldn’t understand wearing shoes indoors even before this pandemic.

I gave up eating fresh salads and herbs, I just don’t bother. I’m washing carefully tomatoes and peel off their skin, the same with avocados, they are enough for me.

Also we tend to take things out of the fridge for DD and closely supervise her cooking as she has additional needs and washing hands/ following hygiene rules were not her strongest points even before this pandemic.

I understand that this virus is here for a long time. I would go to GP/ dentist/ hospital if needed, at some point DD will go to school, I just don’t want unnecessary avoidable risks for my family.

I also think the response from a poster saying "I work in a supermarket, we all handle packaging all day, every day, none of my colleagues has caught it" tells you all you need to know.

The risk is so ridiculously small that taking hours to wipe or wash shopping is total overkill.

How on earth is anyone going to go back to work if you are all so worried about the vanishingly small risk of your shopping?

You are much more likely to catch it in the general environment. It's a big worry. How are governments going to get things back up and running?

@Zaphodsotherhead
I didn’t wipe shopping before but I sprayed surfaces with Dettol, washed my hands and washed kitchen towels at 90 degree regularly (some would say too often). DD’s school things are wiped regularly as well.
We all do flu jabs but always wipe handles, keyboards and screens during flu outbreak. Big cleaning and hot washing if someone is unwell with tummy bug.

By the way flu seems to survive on surfaces less but it can stay active in the air for much longer. More importantly Covid 19 is believed to be at least 10 times as deadly as flu hence my extra measures.

Unpacking outside in rubber gloves. Cardboard containers and things that aren’t needed for a few days into garage, hard containers needed sooner washed in soapy water, freezer things decanted into bags, packed fruit/veg emptied out of plastic. All packaging in outside bin, gloves washed and off, hands washed.

Got it down to a fine art now. Took about an hour after the first delivery 😁

Thank you @greenlynx. Interesting to hear from someone for whom this isn't a 'just for Corona' activity!

Flu can be deadly for those in high risk groups (and the flu vaccine only works against one particular type of flu - the type they think will be most prevalent in any given year), so I should have thought that the 'wipers' with family members at risk would also be 'wipers' during flu epidemics.

All this packaging being chucked away in the bin...... I am hoping it is being "recycled" rather than binned?? And throwing away cloths and gloves after one use...... I am not eco warrior but this does really sadden me.

No and i open post and wash my hands afterwards. I have asthma but not in the high risk as it is currently well controlled. Surfaces regularly cleaned that's it * @Baaaahhhhh* i have to agree with you .I work in care and if we thought about it too much you would literally drive yourself mad .

Totally agree with @Noflora. We've been told that it lives on surfaces and so cleaning surfaces that come into the house is perfectly reasonable.

I love the photo of all the shopping in the bath. Way back thread. It was on another thread on this subject. I do sometimes wonder what lengths people will go to. Also, has anyone noticed how men don't seem so fussy about such things.

I chuck all outer packaging and wipe down everything else with a warm soapy sponge.

I wash everything and remove items from packaging immediately. Post gets opened after 2 days quarantine and envelopes are binned immediately. I know the risk is slight but it’s one I’d rather not take.

Why assume that packaging isn’t being recycled?
I’m not making any more rubbish?