If you washed your shopping are you still doing so?

[HJ40]

Not looking for a pile on from those who never did because there are plenty of those threads already.

I chose to dunk everything in Milton because back at the start of covid, so much was unknown. I was pregnant and scared. DH & I were able to work from home and our DC1 was at home when nursery was closed. We were perfectly, totally, isolated so it made sense to wash the shopping as our only possible point of exposure.

And then the habit has stuck because it's actually no hassle and better to be on the safe side.

But more than a a year on, DC1 has been back at nursery every day for 14months now and DC2 is about to start. We're going out and about, albeit cautiously, but fairly normally. DH & I are AZ double jabbed but too young for the booster. DH will soon have to return to commuting by train at least two days per week and I will be going back into my office.

I'm wondering if the time has come to stop? Given all our other potential contact points, shopping seems pretty low down the risk list.

Also see Tim Spector (Zoe App scientist) regarding the gut microbiome, it’s importance and how we’re destroying it with sanitising everything and with our diets.

Not being goady but I have been making an increased effort in recent years to buy things with as little packaging as possible, so how does this work with loose fruit and veg? Or cardboard boxes?
I guess you could dunk things like bananas and satsumas in milton but can it go through the skin?

What is veg wash? I just wash thoroughly with tap water. Some sort of special product seems like a bit of a con

@SMBH, it actually exists.

Here

@qwd123 how does Tom Hanks know thats where he caught it from , he could of got it anywhere maybe one of the staff had caught if from the guest and was aysympfomatic, he can suspect but not know for sure

I have never washed, sprayed or wiped my shopping, we have not had covid. I think the risk is minimal due to the amount of shopping each week I have touched if it was a risk then I would have been infected.

I remember a poster stating stoutly that her fil had caught covid from the post, as he had been absolutely nowhere and had no visitors…. Except his carer

The thing is though, we were told all sorts of things, often quite firmly, often by quite authoritative sources, so it’s understandable that people ruled out some sources and ended up assuming it must be others.
At one point it absolutely didn’t spread through the air except in large droplets, at one point very early on WHO thought that asymptomatic transmission wasn’t significant, and for a while we were told keeping a 1m distance was key.

I never sanitised my shopping but I do remember opening gates on country walks with dock leaves so as to make absolutely sure I didn’t infect any poor farmers.

What I can’t get my head round is the people who haven’t changed their precautions since March last year. Surely if your family are particularly vulnerable you would do your best to work out what the actual levels of risk are for different things and adjust accordingly rather than continue to sanitise shopping like it’s a religious ritual.

Only extreme Covid cultists ever did this.

My mum still washes her shopping and I don't know why but it really annoys me! I just don't get how wiping her food with a wet cloth gets rid of this deadly virus! But she's so worried about catching it she feels if she stops she will get it and never forgive herself. Bless her. I wish it didn't bother me so much, I suppose I just hate seeing my Mum so effected by all of this!

november90

My mum still washes her shopping and I don't know why but it really annoys me! I just don't get how wiping her food with a wet cloth gets rid of this deadly virus! But she's so worried about catching it she feels if she stops she will get it and never forgive herself. Bless her. I wish it didn't bother me so much, I suppose I just hate seeing my Mum so effected by all of this!“

If it makes her feel better, which presumably it does, and she has the time, let it go,

@MrsSkylerWhite haha yes well I do try but it's just a little annoyance of mine. I keep it to myself like, I don't make her feel bad!
But she definitely hates doing it, especially after a big shock! I keep asking when she will stop but I think it's something she will feel she has to do forever now!

Only extreme Covid cultists ever did this.
Really? Don’t be ridiculous. People have been washing food before they store/eat it for hundreds of years. I think if you haven’t YOU are the unusual one.

@SMBH

What is veg wash? I just wash thoroughly with tap water. Some sort of special product seems like a bit of a con

I don't know either. I don't even wash fruit and veg, and I eat blackberries straight from the bush. Am still alive.

I'd prefer to eat berries straight from a bush (as long as above dog wee height) than eat ones which have even through a supply chain without washing them!

Is a bramble a bush? . Eating a few berries from a hedgerow or your veg patch without washing them is not the same as buying food from a market/shop and eating it without washing it. You must be aware that it’s covered in pesticides and fertilisers and handled by many people before it gets to you? Saying “I don’t wash it before I eat it and I’m fine”. Is a bit like proclaiming you don’t wash your hands after wiping your arse or that you always pick your nose while you cook.

How can it be no extra effort to wash and dry every item that comes in to your house? Madness. Yes it's time to stop!

Because you either wash it/take it out of the packet as it arrives or before you eat it?

Yes I'm on board with that- want to get rid of chemicals etc. Which is why washing it all in bleach is just so nuts! Even if it's "safe" bleach it's still bleach

We did at the beginning and then again during the second wave but we stopped a good few months ago.
In reality, it probably doesn't make that much of a difference and our children go to nursery so will come back with all sorts anyway.

For those of you who are still washing shopping, what would need to happen for you to stop?...

Given that washing shopping is born of the (tedious and draining) mindset that "you can never be too careful", are you expecting to do it forever?

@5zeds

Only extreme Covid cultists ever did this. Really? Don’t be ridiculous. People have been washing food before they store/eat it for hundreds of years. I think if you haven’t YOU are the unusual one.

I assume you are talking about things like raw fruit and veg. People have not been sanitising the packaging of all their shopping for years. Don't be ridiculous!

@FreshFreesias

Only extreme Covid cultists ever did this.

The same ones that sit in their car. Alone. With a mask on.

Mental.

People have not been sanitising the packaging of all their shopping for years. Don't be ridiculous! no mostly they take it out of the packaging and put it in a container in their home. You know like those extraordinarily modern biscuit tins and bread bins and the oh so unheard of Tupperware and jars.

The reason people buy (for example) tomatoes in a punnet is because they don’t want them touched by everyone in the shop.

Washing is not new
Washing hands is not new
Not sneezing on people is not new
Staying away from people if you have a cold/flu/virus so you don’t give them your illness is not new.

Mostly? I don't know anyone who takes everything out of its packaging. The only thing I take out is cat biscuits! Everything else stays in its original unwashed packaging and somehow I've made it to the age of 46!