Also, please don’t do that.
I’ve already seen some take downs of this from food safety experts. This is not the time to get food poisoning. Leaving everything out for three days? Eh, yeah. Actually I wanted to eat that salami, you know? And soap is not good for fruit. You’re actually destroying any protection those fruits had and now you’re much more likely to incubate other nasty stuff on them*. Remember the fancy world of disease we had before Corona has not taken time off just because of Corona.
Also the thing about the “life particles”: He’s correct there. Those life particles have been found. What they do not tell you is the amount of life particles, i.e. the viral load. As Germany’s current star virologist explained: in those tests they start with ultra concentrated solutions that contain a much heavier viral load than a full blown cough by somebody in the middle of an infection. And then after two days they still find some particles. So unless somebody coughed on your food directly and then you lick it, you’re very unlikely to catch it from your meat packaging.
Chigau
Many places here have virtual notice board where you can ask for people to do your shopping. Heavens know I offered it in person to several families and so far the answer is mostly “oh we can manage that ourselves”. I just hope their stupidity does not turn terminal.
*The difference for example between eggs in Europe and eggs in the USA is that the USA use a lot of resources to first destroy the natural protection of the egg and then some more resources to make sure you can still eat it.
Ridanasays
So he opens the presumably contaminated cereal box with his hand…and then uses that same hand to remove the previously clean inner package. Good job, doc.
I have mixed feelings about this video. I think it is important to be vigilant and careful, but…
Firstly, plastic shopping bags are a bigger risk of carrying the virus with you home IMO, because the virus can survive on plastic possibly for days so they can be heavily contaminated at the store. Whereas when you take your clean canvas shopping bags with you and fill them from the shopping cart at the parking lot, they can only be contaminated from the packaging. And the minuscule amount of virus won’t survive on them for long after that, and not at all if you wash them immediately.
Secondly, washing veggies or fruit with soap is perfectly fine -- if you intend to process it immediately after that. Otherwise as Giliell said, you set yourself up for mold and rot quickly ruining them, and even some bacterial pathogens can multiply on them and cause you food poisoning. A safer option is to put these perishables into a container for storage and wash them and your hands thoroughly whenever you take them out for processing. Which you should do anyway.
Thirdly, taking the cereals out of the box is entirely unnecessary, it is enough to give them into the final storage place and wait for one day before accessing them (the same goes for everything else packaged in cardboard or paper). The only risk here is touching your face after touching the cardboard.
So I am only doing the washing of plastic surfaces.
voyagersays
Thanks to Charly and Giliell for adding to the conversation. I agree with what you’ve said. The video may be a bit “off the mark”, but I’m glad we’re all thinking about ways to be careful and stay safe.
That stuff about shopping for your elders is kinda cute.
What if you are an elder?
Also, please don’t do that.
I’ve already seen some take downs of this from food safety experts. This is not the time to get food poisoning. Leaving everything out for three days? Eh, yeah. Actually I wanted to eat that salami, you know? And soap is not good for fruit. You’re actually destroying any protection those fruits had and now you’re much more likely to incubate other nasty stuff on them*. Remember the fancy world of disease we had before Corona has not taken time off just because of Corona.
Also the thing about the “life particles”: He’s correct there. Those life particles have been found. What they do not tell you is the amount of life particles, i.e. the viral load. As Germany’s current star virologist explained: in those tests they start with ultra concentrated solutions that contain a much heavier viral load than a full blown cough by somebody in the middle of an infection. And then after two days they still find some particles. So unless somebody coughed on your food directly and then you lick it, you’re very unlikely to catch it from your meat packaging.
Chigau
Many places here have virtual notice board where you can ask for people to do your shopping. Heavens know I offered it in person to several families and so far the answer is mostly “oh we can manage that ourselves”. I just hope their stupidity does not turn terminal.
*The difference for example between eggs in Europe and eggs in the USA is that the USA use a lot of resources to first destroy the natural protection of the egg and then some more resources to make sure you can still eat it.
So he opens the presumably contaminated cereal box with his hand…and then uses that same hand to remove the previously clean inner package. Good job, doc.
I have mixed feelings about this video. I think it is important to be vigilant and careful, but…
Firstly, plastic shopping bags are a bigger risk of carrying the virus with you home IMO, because the virus can survive on plastic possibly for days so they can be heavily contaminated at the store. Whereas when you take your clean canvas shopping bags with you and fill them from the shopping cart at the parking lot, they can only be contaminated from the packaging. And the minuscule amount of virus won’t survive on them for long after that, and not at all if you wash them immediately.
Secondly, washing veggies or fruit with soap is perfectly fine -- if you intend to process it immediately after that. Otherwise as Giliell said, you set yourself up for mold and rot quickly ruining them, and even some bacterial pathogens can multiply on them and cause you food poisoning. A safer option is to put these perishables into a container for storage and wash them and your hands thoroughly whenever you take them out for processing. Which you should do anyway.
Thirdly, taking the cereals out of the box is entirely unnecessary, it is enough to give them into the final storage place and wait for one day before accessing them (the same goes for everything else packaged in cardboard or paper). The only risk here is touching your face after touching the cardboard.
So I am only doing the washing of plastic surfaces.
Thanks to Charly and Giliell for adding to the conversation. I agree with what you’ve said. The video may be a bit “off the mark”, but I’m glad we’re all thinking about ways to be careful and stay safe.