Many of us have seen a change in our routine habits due to the global pandemic. Given how highly contagious this sucker is, it seems like no precaution should be spared. However, the one thing we’ve had hammered into us by now is that the best way to stop the spread is by washing our hands with warm water and soap and not to touch our faces (or anyone else’s). So the next logical question is: should we be washing everything else too? Like, should we douse our mother in law with a bucket of tepid, sudsy water when she comes out of her room? I’d vote for yes, but not for medical reasons. But what about food, specifically the fresh produce we receive from the grocery store that has been exposed to everyone and handled by many? According to disease experts, it won’t hurt.
Many people are finding themselves cooking all their meals at home—but even with that comes some theoretical risk.
Minimizing trips and going to the store during off hours (early in the morning or late at night) is the best way to reduce your risk, but experts say there are further precautionary measures you can take. “I would wear gloves — rubber gloves, leather, any kind, and be sure you wash your hands when you come home,” Dr. William Haseltine, infectious disease expert and Chair and President of ACCESS Health International, tells PEOPLE.
Once you do have groceries, there’s the question of how to handle them. In a recent interview with the Daily Mail, associate professor at the University of Sydney Timothy Newsome recommended washing fresh produce “with warm soapy water, just as you do your hands.”
But is this really necessary, and is it safe in itself? “Using soap has never really been recommended for fresh produce before, and our recommendation has still been to use water and rinse,” Francisco Diez-Gonzalez, director of Center for Food Safety at the University of Georgia, tells PEOPLE. “But if people want to do it, it’s innocuous. I don’t have any evidence that it will for sure reduce risk of the virus because we don’t have the research.”
Dr. Haseltine adds that washing with soap “can help” minimize risk, but questions the practicality of it in many circumstances. “I wouldn’t wash your lettuce with soapy water,” he says, “but something like a potato or an apple or a plum you can wash, the outside of a mango you can wash.”
Both Diez-Gonzalez and Haseltine acknowledge that the safest way to ensure food safety is heat and cooking. “Your best friend when it comes to any pathogens or organisms is cooking,” says Diez-Gonzalez. “If you’re really concerned about not being exposed to any source, just eat cooked vegetables.”
The article goes on to say that most of the information they have indicates that the true risks come from human to human contact and they just don’t have the data to prove that contact with food is a danger. But Dr. Halstine also said, although the risk from food is really low, it’s not zero. So if it makes you feel better to wash your apple in soap and water, do it. I have a soft bristled scrubber I reserve for fruit and vegetables. But, prior, I wouldn’t bother with something like an orange because I remove the peel. Now, I give everything a little scrub. I do, however, lean heavily on cooking the germs out of everything. (I pretend I can hear the CV-19 germs screaming as they die.) I’m relying on Instacart and Amazon Fresh for food and I give everything a wipe when I take it out of the bags (which adds about 30 minutes on to putting things away, but oh well). I just realized, though, I don’t do the same thing with Amazon or other non-food related store deliveries. I guess I should rethink that. I do wash my hands any time I reenter my house, even if I’d just gone to the garage. And randomly throughout the day. My hands haven’t been this clean since I was bartending.
Do what you must. It’s smart to give common surfaces a wipe with a clean cloth with something on it. I keep a spray bottle of vinegar and water to spritz around the house. I know it’s probably not killing what it needs to but no one is defying orders around here. Honestly, I tell myself any housework I am doing lowers our chances of spreading the disease. Intellectually, I know it does not, but it’s the only way I can talk myself into cleaning my house.
These are all old photos, btw
Photo credit: Josh Hild/Pexels, Instagram and WENN/Avalon
I’ve always washed mine in water and apple cider vinegar. Let them soak, a quick scrub and rinse.
Never used it for fruit/veg, but by go-to surface cleaner is water and vinegar (a la my grandparents). Unfortunately, some googling at the start of all this revealed that it’s not recommended by health authorities for the ‘roni virus.
My landlady is a microbiology professor. She says vinegar doesn’t kill this virus… Only alcohol, bleach or soap…
The CDC makes a good distinction between cleaning and disinfecting. Not everything will kill the germs, but cleaning the germs diminishes their potency.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prepare/cleaning-disinfection.html
@mcmom, thanks for the link!
I’ve been washing produce with skin that I eat (apples) with soapy water. People touch it and the clerk’s incorrectly use gloves, so everything they touch: money, other people’s produce, their faces, are touching your produce as well
I just read something this morning from a local paper that said to rinse with waterproof water and vinegar but not soap. The reason being that is if it isn’t rinsed properly, soap residue can make you nauseous. It also said there is very little risk from food, hot or cold. I would be very interested in knowing if this is correct. From what I’ve been reading,, the greatest risk is from food containers, and they should be wiped down with alcohol. Has anybody else heard differently?
I’ve read that it cannot live on surfaces for very long (metal surfaces being the longest) and begins to degrade immediately so the actual risk is very low and gets smaller as time goes by…but it’s not zero. Especially if someone had just wiped their infected nose and then touched the fruit you then picked up. Maybe wear gloves to the store and then let your fruit sit for a couple days to let germs die and then wash with vinegar water?
CDC says Coronavirus can survive
In the air up to 3 hrs
On cardboard up to 24 hrs
Stainless steel up to 72 hrs
Plastic up to 72 hrs
Copper up to 4 hrs
Same – I try to buy packaged salads, but produce that is loose and exposed gets a wash with white vinegar. It doesn’t affect the taste and vinegar is a miracle product. I started using a ton of it during Harvey, as a cup in the wash kills mildew. All of the cutting boards that come in contact with raw chicken get a vinegar bath. Spraying the counter with white vinegar deters ants and a cup of vinegar in the garden keeps the stray cats away.
Vinegar truly does have so many uses and it’s inexpensive!
The Japanese did a study that showed adding a solution of 1/2 cup vinegar mixed with 2 teaspoons of salt to a load of laundry, killed 99% of germs.
I’m confused: what is “waterproof water?”
I do. All it takes is one dumb kid doing a TikTok challenge to catch it.
I absolutely think we should all have been washing them well all along anyway. Went to my local grocery this past weekend and the particular veg item I was getting was loose in a bin with no tongs or wax paper to pick it up. People were just sticking their ungloved hands in and taking handfuls of it. Shocking to see, and that the store had not provided any accommodation especially as they have emptied out and closed all of the bulk nuts and spice containers which actually did have scoops.
That’s actually how a lot of our stores are here. I live in rural nova scotia, so take that with a grain of salt. But most people are pawing through the bins on any given day – we’ve never had wax paper or tongs or anything to pick anything out. I’ve used the produce bags to do it if it’s something that involves potentially touching ones I’m not buying. I just try to be extra vigilant when washing before eating. But now I’m thinking I’ll wash them as soon as I get home.
According to the CDC, the virus cannot be spread by food.
People are touching absolutely everything in grocery stores, all of the time. Keep up vigilant handwashing and avoid touching your face. With respect to produce, workers in the field do not typically have access to handwashing stations or sanitizer. Many, many hands touch our food before we consume it. Wash your produce in water and vinegar right after you return from the store – always.
https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/newsletter/food-safety-and-Coronavirus.html
We’ve been letting things sit for a few days before eating it (fresh fruit and veg and shelf stable food) and wiping down things like milk and butter before putting them in the fridge or freezer. Also buying mostly frozen veg that would be cooked anyway. We don’t wear shoes in the house and after the last grocery trip all my clothes went straight into the laundry basket. I think we’ll try for a grocery delivery next time if we can get a slot. But then this makes me feel guilty and privileged because I’m basically sending someone else into a potentially exposed area!! It’s so hard to know what’s best. I guess they’re there anyway? Anyone have thoughts on this?
I know what you mean, but one reason delivery can still be better is that it decreases the number of people out getting exposed (and exposing themselves to others).
The more people who are out buying groceries, the more people coming into contact with one another, which increases the spread of the disease. Stay home if you can.
Loving using delivery although I venture out for milk, bread type items. I do feel fortunate I can, at this point anyway, afford the few extra $$ it costs.
Where I live (in Quebec) grocery delivery services have been overwhelmed, to the point where there can be waits of up to a week! Some stores have asked people not to get delivery unless they really need it, so it can free up some time slots for those who can’t get their food themselves.
I personally still go out because A: I live alone and don’t see anyone at all, so I need to get out of the house now and then just to preserve my sanity; my 15 min walk to / from the grocery store is pretty much the only time that happens and B: I don’t want to take a time slot away from someone who needs it. I know I could be putting myself at risk but I take as many precautions as I can…wiping down the cart handles with wipes, washing my hands when I get home, and so on.
Is that in a rural area @LadyM or in a city? The access is so much trickier in country areas here in Australia too… once our supermarkets get cleaned out, they don’t necessarily get refilled the same night, unlike city supermarkets.
I’ve been avoiding supermarkets and going to small fruit and veggie shops, little delis and Asian grocery stores etc. Even found some detergent etc in a commercial kitchen supplies shop.
@Nana I’m in a big city, and thankfully we’ve had no real issues (not yet, at least) with supermarkets being cleaned out. Of course there are items that are harder to find than others – rice, flour, toilet paper, anything ‘sanitizing’ – but overall we’re fortunate.
I’m actually going to the supermarket later this afternoon, it’s the first time in over a week…I’m curious to see if it’ll be any busier than usual, because last week it was almost empty of shoppers.
I usually use Shipt once a week but since the pandemic hit I’ve been going out myself for groceries. Mostly because there are no time slots available and I don’t want to deal with the constant back-and-forth with my shopper over what the store does and doesn’t have. Take this morning, for example. I would have had three separate text conversations about a lack of bananas (yes, bananas seem to have been a hot commodity in my area over the past two weeks), pasta, and dog food. I’d rather just go myself, leave the kids at home, and sanitize myself when I get back.
Good luck going in @Lady! I just heard from a friend in an even more rural area than mine (she has young kids) and they’ve stopped home deliveries *and* pickups in her area… I guess at some stage the food panic will peter out as we all get used to the ‘new normal’, but there’s no denying it’s caused stress for many people all over.
I totally know what you mean. I’ve been getting mine delivered and I feel bad for those who are getting my groceries for me. I tip them super, super well, thank them through the app, and figure maybe this is a job that person really needs right now.
I’m high risk of getting it so I don’t feel comfortable going to the store. I’m so grateful there are delivery services.
I asked a Shipt shopper friend of mine how she feels about being used during this time. She said she’s grateful to have a job that isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. So there’s that. Some of us really do have to choose the roof over our head over our own health right now. We’d be in a really bad place if I wasn’t still working (reduced hours and pay, but still working).
Thanks everyone for your thoughts about using grocery delivery!!! Appreciated.
Where I live, doctors and community organizations have recommended getting grocery supplies once a week rather than going multiple times per week for this than that. It reduces everyone’s risk of exposure.
doc from Michigan has a vid out showing safe way to bring groceries into the house, how to clean it all. We’ve been sanitizing all containers, putting non perishables in garage for 24 hours. Some tricks I learned were taking things like cereals, bread out of the wrappers and storing in a plastic container or baggie. He used soap and water on some fruits and veggies.
Our doctor neighbor says to drink 2 shots of tonic water a day and gargle with listerine to kill any of the bacteria that causes the virus, and most importantly not touch your face. We’re trying it.
What does tonic water do?
Quinine can kill bacteria. I asked him the same thing.
Viruses and bacteria are not the same thing. Bacteria cause infection. They do not cause viruses.
So I question all of that advice. Much as I do love a good gin & tonic.
I have also read that the hydroxychloroquine is not effective against the ‘rona.
Might have to mix up a g&t anyway tho! It isn’t like I’m going anywhere.
Interesting! Thanks!
What about a shot of apple cider vinegar on an empty stomach? I have tried it with the flu and it does seem to lessen the symptoms. The theory I heard years ago is that the Malic Acid in the acv kills the viruses (viri?) that rest in the stomach. But then, this would not help with lung symptoms.
Tonic water won’t help. Quinine is considered a drug and they aren’t allowed to put enough Quinine in tonic water to make a difference. You would need to drink several gallons a day. The hydroxychloroquine Trump is pushing is based on a synthetic form of Quinine. So, it’s effectiveness for this specific virus is unknown. The only reason that I caution you is that the amount of it in Tonic water can be harmful under certain circumstances. People who are pregnant/nursing, taking certain medications, and have issues with their heart, liver, low blood sugar or kidneys should not be drinking it regularly. Most people would be absolutely fine, but most people also don’t know that it can be a problem.
Bacteria and viruses are NOT the same thing. I would hope a doctor would know this.
Who is that in the Ellen hoodie above?
There is a product called Fit that I use to wash produce. It’s a mild soap spray that you rinse off.
I really think at this point that grocery stores should be handing out masks and gloves and limiting the number of shoppers allowed in at one time. But since the hospitals can’t even get enough PPE, I don’t see that happening in the U.S.
Our grocery handed wipes out until they ran out so now you can see staff thoroughly disinfecting each cart. Hoping our supply chain will catch up soon to what items we need
It looks like Allison Janney.
I do wish my grocery store would limit how many people are allowed in at a time. It was so busy at 8:30 this morning but it’s too far away for me to go home and come back. I just tried to keep my distance from other folks and shopped as quickly as possible. Amazingly, they still have two full dispensers of cart wipes. I’m surprised someone hasn’t tried to steal them yet.
I’ve been wiping down any containers, transferring food to my own containers, and taking the other stuff out to the trash right away. Then wiping down the workspace, the doorhandles, etc.
I use white distilled vinegar on nearly everything. It kills 80% of virus’s. Bathroom sinks, floors, showers are all cleaned with vinegar. Kitchen counter tops are cleaned more than once a day because we both bake and cook. Vegies, I use plain water and a vegie scrub brush. Because we live in a mountainous area with infrequent access to grocery stores I purchase dried fruit, dehydrate or freeze. Vegies are often cooked, baked at high heat which would kill virus’s.
I’ve been wiping down everything before I put it the fridge or pantry. And I’ve been buying fruit/veggies that are wrapped in plastic, which I normally try to avoid, but it makes me feel a bit safer right now. But I think a vinegar wash is a good idea for loose produce.
So I’m in peak paranoia mode. Everything that can be washed with soap and water (produce, cans, things in vacuum packaging) gets a wash with soap, everything else doesn’t get touched for a couple of days.
I’m also clinically OCD and this situation is just a feeding trough for my anxiety.
Try not to think of it as paranoia, but just more an essential step for everyone at the moment. Mainly so it doesn’t feed your anxiety and to avoid beating yourself up. We all have to do this for now, so it’s not OCD, it’s survival and a fact of life; we have to try and be a bit kind to ourselves at the same time as washing our all foodstuffs.
I know it’s really hard, but if you can look at your OCD as a positive right now because you will be overly cautious, thorough, etc, maybe that will help. Hope your anxieties ease a bit, it’s tough.
I am also OCD, and some of these behaviours being recommended are exactly the things I fought really hard to stop doing. One doctor says do it; another says no, it isn’t necessary. I am just not doing it. Risk seems to be low of getting this from any sort of products or packaging, frankly I am still relatively young with no comorbidities so even if I did get this virus, I would more than likely be 100% fine and I am already stuck in my home anyway so any risk to others if I did get it is low as well. My partner is also young with no comorbidities. I feel like for me the long-term consequences of letting this derail the progress I worked hard to make would be worse than the relative risk of not washing groceries. If I were in any way immunocompromised, or if this virus had a death rate more akin to the The Black Death, I may think differently. But as it is, the risk of this virus doing any long-term damage to me versus the relative risk to my quality of life for years to come from letting my OCD win again means I am not washing groceries.
I think you sound like a brave and clever woman. I hope it works out for you.
You can do the same thing as you do for uncooked veggies in regards to the risk of hepatitis. A teaspoon of chlorine bleach mixed with a sink full of water and then let it soak. Rinse 2 or 3 times afterwards.
Ditto for using potassium permanganate. Also rinse well afterwards.
Like others, I’ve been transferring everything into the laundry and leaving it there a couple of days before bringing in to the kitchen (where everything in a packet or carton gets washed with soap and water).
Haven’t bought veggies in a while (mostly bc I’ve made mine last by blanching and freezing), but they will definitely be getting washed and cooked! Planted a little lettuce, arugula and parsley in pots a couple of weeks ago so hopefully won’t have to buy these anywhere – as long as I don’t kill them first!
Also, since hopefully soon I’ll be buying a 5 kg bag of flour or two to make bread, I found a commercial kitchen/catering shop and purchased a couple of large food-grade buckets that restaurants use for storing ingredients, to keep in the laundry and protect the flour from any rodents or insects like cockroaches that might be attracted by food. Would be awful to buy something bulk-ish like that and have it infested by something.
Good luck to all and stay safe – it’s amazing how this has brought into sharp focus all over the world, what’s really important in life…
Well, I’m so avant-garde, i started washingy fruits and veggies with soap beginning 2020. The weird smell/aftertaste coming from tomatoes sometimes made me gag and that doesn’t happen anymore since i started washing them with soap. Dishwasher soap. I don’t know what else to use. I just don’t do it with raspberries would get mushy and like the small berries because too long
I actually haven’t ordered fresh veggies or anything exposed in a supermarket. Even if I wash it (which I did even before this), something but it just…eh, freaks me out. That’s probably irrational, but I can’t help it. I’m relying on packaged fruits and veggies for now.
I’m not even buying bagged salads right now. Frozen veggies only. We can make up for all those salads later, which I’m sure we’ll all be more than happy to do.
I’m boggled that people are still frequenting fast food places. Do you know how many people touch your food before you eat it? I know we’re supposed to support these places via take-out, but even pizzas are turning my stomach at the moment. We aren’t even using drive-thrus for coffee anymore. You know it’s serious when Canadians stop flocking to Timmy’s:)
What are you guys doing with bananas? Are you wiping them too? My mom (a senior) eats a banana every day and I’ve mentioned to her the risk of perhaps her finger touching the inside when peeling it. I know you can leave the bananas for a few days to let the virus die but by then the bananas start to get soft. Also, do we really know how long the virus can last on fruits and veggies? The data is all over the place. It’s so much work to clean and disinfect everything but I guess we have no choice. We have always, for years now, washed fruit with soap and water. I thought most people did? I mean I see apples fall on the floor at grocery stores to then just be picked up and put back in place. It’s gross and water alone ain’t gonna do sh*t to clean those germs.
I don’t know that wiping the skin of a banana is too effective but I do it, anyway right now. Bananas are the only non-frozen fruit/veg I’m buying right now cause, well… bananas don’t unfreeze very well.
I’ve been scrubbing bananas with soap and warm water.
I automatically started doing this when all of this began. I wash produce with warm water and a little dish soap and then dry completely.
The only fresh fruit and veg I buy is in a bag. At least that way people aren’t pawing over it. My freezer is jammed with frozen veggies and fruit. I don’t want other people selecting and touching my food so yesterday I shopped myself. I stocked up because I don’t plan to go again anytime soon. I waited in lines and it took ten minutes to get in to the supermarket and Trader Joe’s. The latter had blue tape on the ground outside six feet apart. By the time I got home it took a long time for me to calm down. I immediately washed my clothes and showered and washed my hair. I just couldn’t shake the disquiet I felt. It was like I was living out a scene from a scary movie. 😞
You’re not alone. A lot of us feel this way. It’s unreal and scary. Watching the news just causes more anxiety but that’s literally all I watch because I just want one news reporter, one head of state, one leader to say it’s going to be ok. It’s all doom and gloom.
I don’t know if it helps, but we got good news out of BC yesterday. The fact that we are effectively practicing social distance is working. When the virus peaks in BC, we should have enough beds and ventilators for everybody that needs one. Also, as long as we keep practicing social distancing and isolation, we should be good and in a position to help other Canadians as well.
We’re limiting our grocery trips, too. I had already been thinking about ways to reduce trips for provisions as we get older. This is turning out to be a real-life early test!
Frozen items last longer and are flash-frozen when the produce/fruits are fresh, so that’s a good thing. Fresher and less chance of contamination. I froze my first loaves of sandwich bread yesterday (happened to catch a bread truck at the little store near my house). My MIL has routinely frozen bread and she says it tastes just as good. We double-wrapped the loaf in plastic.
You can buy loaves of frozen bread dough. Here they come in a package of 6 frozen loaves for $6. You can bake bread, make cinnamon buns or pizza or cheese and ham buns for lunch, etc. etc. For the bread making challenged among us, it’s a godsend and just so darned convenient.
Shopping less is hard for us because we live in an RV and can only hold so many supplies at once. I’ve gotten down to one weekly trip and a smaller necessities-only trip in the middle of the week, so I guess that’s not too bad. I’m used to shopping every two days for food. But I am so grateful for our deep freezer right now. It is stocked with meat and produce.
guys… let’s check ourselves. I prefer limiting chemicals in my house too. vinegar is NOT GOING TO KILL/DESTROY CORONA VIRUS, ok?
https://www.rutgers.edu/news/best-ways-kill-coronavirus-your-home
The following is linked from the CDC:
https://www.americanchemistry.com/Novel-Coronavirus-Fighting-Products-List.pdf
Let’s take care of ourselves and stay safe!!
I know there is probably some good information in the article and comments, but the only thing that stuck in my head was an immediate urge to soak my fruit in tequila and just hope for the best…
(Going into week 3 of voluntary isolation and apparently I’m getting a little nutty)
I lived in Mexico back in the early 1970s when literally everything was teeming with bacteria so we would wash all fruit and veg in a quart of boiled water with 1 cup of white vinegar, 4 tbsps of baking soda and a 1/2 tsp of iodine – yes, good old fashioned iodine. We never got sick. We got sick several times eating out so we rarely did. That’s what I’ve been doing since COVID-19 reared its ugly head.
I’ve always washed things like tomatos and apples with soap and water. Berries just water. But I never washed things like oranges and cantalopes, and I know people that wash their watermelons! I guess I should start.
I generally end up tossing a lot of produce because I can’t eat fresh before it goes bad.
I buy frozen veg most of the time anyhow.
I will say I have not been to any store since last Friday, I had to pick up prescription refills so bought some canned soup, cereal, milk.
I am cutting down to 2 meals a day, with lots of coffee/water.
I’m not reducing my intake so much in order to save food, I am a comfort/bored eater by nature and I am trying to keep busy in other ways.
Be safe, be kind, do whatever helps you to be calm, my daughter has been watching The Beatles endlessly on youtube. Yellow Submarine, anyone? 🙂
We should have all been washing produce if possible LONG before this, even things that come in a bag or are “pre-washed”. They are grown in soil, covered in pesticides (yes, even organic) and are handled by many people before they come into our homes. Any number of E. coli outbreaks in the news should make this clear. Wash and rinse *all* produce before you eat it, every time, always.
I agree with you, Hecate 110% on the Mother-in-law dousing 😁 I’ve always washed and encouraged all to wash/rinse even when items state pre-washed…
I’ve been doing a similar thing with our groceries, I give everything a good wash in hot soapy water, empty the items that are in a carton packet & chucked the carton in the recycling bin and then sanitise those that can’t be washed. I now passed any groceries through our kitchen window so they all land straight in the sink, then sanitise the carrier bags and leave them outside to get some sunshine.
Yes, I’ve been using diluted (non-toxic) dish detergent on washable produce the moment I get home. I also shop during offpeak hours and days, and I’ve been wearing disposable gloves the last few weeks, plus mask (I know it might not help but whatever; it’s not a huge hassle to wear one). Stay safe and healthy, everyone, and do your bit in flattening the curve or completely stopping it.
I wish we had off-peak hours at our store. No matter what time I go the place is packed! There aren’t that many of us left since all the tourists were sent home so where the hell are all these people coming from? I usually go at 8am and it’s dead, but yesterday I was maneuvering my cart around groups of people just trying to get my sh*t and get out. I don’t get it. Not all of us live in RVs so that particular store shouldn’t be busy all day, every day of the week.
People weren’t already doing this???? Whaaaaaaat!!!
For real. You should always be washing your produce before you eat it. Yikes.
Washing ALL produce? this threa is making me panic even more. I get washing things not already packaged, but ai have never washed anything that was already pre washed. Eep
I soak fruit and vegetables in vinegar for a good half an hour. I wash cans and yogurts and bottles with soap and water and what can’t be washed like cereals and sugar packages I put alcohol on a paper and clean it with that.
I also have a spray bottle with bleach at the door so when we come back from work I spray it on the rug and I leave my shoes outside.