Free Shipping on Orders Over $3,000

cleaning

How To Sanitize Groceries And Packages During Coronavirus (COVID-19)

by Andrew Saladino
April 24, 2020

While you probably don’t see the same number of strangers as you did before the virus, there are still places of contact. Receiving groceries, packages, and takeout are a few areas where you could come in contact with the virus — though the chance is slim.

The main thing to avoid is inhaling someone else’s respiratory droplets, so you should be wearing a mask when you’re around other people. After that, it’s still a good idea to sanitize groceries and packages when they come into your home.

Quarantining Your Groceries And Packages

Quarantine packages by leaving them in your garage

The first option you have is to quarantine your groceries and packages. This works best if you have a garage or an entryway closet with extra space where you can keep these items. Leaving them out on your porch isn’t recommended unless you know all of your neighbors.

While research on this data is somewhat mixed, COVID-19 shouldn’t be able to survive after three days outside of a host. So, you can literally just leave your bags of groceries and packages separate from your living area for a few days and wait for the virus to die.

With groceries, you’ll need to have an extra refrigerator in your garage or basement to do this. It makes more sense to do this with frozen and packaged goods instead of produce, as well, since your bananas might be brown by the time you bring them into the house.

On the other hand, it’s very easy to quarantine packages. Just bring them into your garage or entryway closet and leave them for at least three days. You’ll have to fight the urge to open them unless you want to go through the sanitation process.

After you bring your groceries in packages into the quarantine area, always wash your hands for at least 20 seconds. Be sure to scrub all of the following parts:

  • Palms
  • Backs of hands
  • Wrists
  • Knuckles
  • Fingertips
  • Backs of fingers
  • Thumbs

Sanitizing Packages

On the other hand, you might not want to quarantine your groceries and packages. Maybe you live in an apartment, or maybe you just want to open up your third pair of footie pajamas as soon as possible.

Let’s talk about the risk of contamination from packages first. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says people are unlikely to catch coronavirus from packaging, but there’s still a chance. Here’s what the CDC recommends:

  • Wash your hands thoroughly right after accepting a package
  • If soap and water aren’t available, use hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol

To go further, you can wipe down the outside of a box with household disinfectant (regular disinfectants work just fine). And if the items were packed and sent to you within the last three days, you might want to wipe down the inner packaging, plastic wrap, and boxes. But with extended shipping times because of the virus, you shouldn’t have to worry about that.

Sanitizing Groceries

Grocery bag with a variety of food ? sanitizing groceries is important during COVID-19.

To limit the spread of COVID-19, the CDC recommends that you use grocery delivery or curbside pickup services whenever possible. You’ll encounter fewer people if you do, but you’ll also have to accept groceries from a delivery person.

Before receiving groceries, wipe down your counter with disinfectant. Then, prepare a cloth or paper towel with disinfectant to use on your groceries.

To maintain social distancing with the delivery person, try to have them set the bags on your porch or apartment sidewalk before you grab the food. Wear your mask when you go out to meet them, as well.

When you bring the groceries inside, set them on your kitchen floor or just one section of your countertop. Here’s how you should clean different types of groceries:

  • Single-packaged foods (cans, frozen veggies, boxes of pasta): Wipe down the package with disinfectant and set it on a clean area of the countertop.
  • Double-packaged foods (cereal, packs of ramen, boxes of wrapped veggie burgers): Open the outer package and then dump out the inner wrapped items onto the clean area of your counter. If you want to keep the outer package, just follow the previous step for sanitation.
  • Baked goods: If you buy a loaf of bread or some bagels that are only in one piece of plastic, try to dump those into a big Tupperware and throw the outer bag away. If you can’t do that, wipe the outer plastic thoroughly and wait for it to dry before opening up the food.
  • Produce: Wash all produce right away, including bananas, for at least 20 seconds with soap and water. Then rinse thoroughly to get rid of the soap.

Next, either dispose of the grocery bags or set them aside in a separate area for a few days if you want to reuse them. Wash your hands thoroughly, and then put away the clean groceries. Finally, wipe the area where you had set the grocery bags when they came in.

The goal of sanitizing groceries is to keep your hands clean when you prepare food. According to the CDC, COVID-19 mainly spreads through infected respiratory droplets that are then inhaled by someone else.

It may be possible to catch the virus by touching a contaminated surface and then touching your face, but there isn’t any official evidence for this. There also isn’t any evidence that shows ingesting COVID-19 leads to the disease.

Ordering Takeout

Pasta arranged with a hole in the middle to heat evenly during COVID-19.

The same general rules apply when ordering takeout. Think of takeout food like a package. The food was clean when it was placed inside, so just transfer it to your own dish, wash your hands, and then eat.

If you’re worried about the food, or if you received a box of fries that was open during transport, you can reheat the food. Throw pasta and other saucy dishes in a pan or use the oven to reheat pizza ? the food will taste better this way.

If you want to use the microwave, arrange your food in a doughnut shape on the plate. This will ensure even heating and no cold spots. Nuke the food until it’s piping hot. The USDA recommends heating poultry to 165 degrees, and that’s a safe temperature for other foods as well.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments