Quick tips to how to clean your groceries during Covid-19 outbreak

Introduction: It All Begins with Your Mouth

Covid-19 has been doing the rounds since forever, it seems. Maintaining cleanliness is not enough at times, so you must take proper care of the food you eat too. Even if proper social distancing is maintained and all other precautions are duly followed, the virus might get into the system through the mouth if contaminated food is consumed. 

Reliable researches have stated that coronavirus can stay on food surfaces for up to seventy-two hours. This implies that simply sanitizing the package is not enough. For those who are highly concerned about everyone’s health, going the extra mile while cleaning will be worth all the effort. To ensure it does not begin with the mouth, clean up!

The Best Grocery Cleaning Tips

In case you are not aware of the essential tips which can save you from getting infected through food, it is time you begin following some. Heard that it’s better late than never? It aptly fits in here. While cleaning groceries, make sure you do not (unintentionally) contaminate them yourself. Wear your gloves and begin cleaning using these tips:

1. Once you open the package, run the whole bulk through lukewarm water. 
2. Use a mild anti-bacterial liquid to spray the veggies and let them sit for some time. 
3. Rinse thoroughly with water while scrubbing vigorously using both hands. 
4. If you plan to keep them in direct sunlight for disinfecting naturally, cover them before placing them in the open. 
5. Groceries can also be passed through artificial ultraviolet radiations as the efficiency of killing the coronavirus is quite high. 
6. For cleaning food items that have to be consumed immediately, alcohol-based sanitizers should be replaced with a thorough saline rinse. 
7. Keep wet food and dry food separately and clean alternately to ensure that the groceries do not get mixed. 
8. If the eatables have been bought from an open market, vinegar can be used for cleaning. Mix a spoonful of vinegar in a large trough of water and submerge the food items for at least five minutes. 
9. Certain liquid food items cannot be cleaned by the aforementioned steps - boil them if the palatable nature is not degraded. 
10. Wipe the cleaned grocery items using a microfibre cloth to ensure maximum coverage. 
11. Once the cleaning process is over, do not leave the groceries in the open for even a single minute. 

The Essence of Grocery Cleaning during Covid-19

If you don’t think the virus can be defeated by such a small step, you might be highly mistaken. It all begins from somewhere and who knows food might become the next super-spreader. You need to compulsorily clean the groceries because it is difficult to trace the source. The results might be terrible if the virus enters through your food pipe. 

Groceries pass through numerous hands before reaching the final consumer. Even if the packaging was done in a sanitized environment, there are probable chances of contamination through middlemen. Even if the online store ensured that the eatables are “one hundred percent safe”, there is no harm in cleaning before you finally eat. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it safe to consume sanitized food?

Depends on the intensity. Tinned food is completely safe if the outer package is sanitized. Otherwise, if the packaging has even a tiny hole and the liquid sanitizer perforates into the food, the results might be fatal. You can rely on stores like India Bazaar for grocery shopping during these times. Access the website here!

Can boiling milk kill coronavirus?
Not proven yet. It is a scientifically proven fact that microorganisms find it difficult to survive at high temperatures. People consider it best to boil milk before consumption but the possibility of contamination is not necessarily reduced to zero percent. 

How to ensure that packaged food is safe to consume?
It is not completely in the hands of the consumer. At your end, you can sanitize the outer pack and follow suitable eating habits. People follow routines like touching the packagings after one or two days. Though it is not completely useless, the virus might stay. Make sure you clean thoroughly, irrespective of the source’s reliability. 

What is the best way to store groceries during the pandemic?
Grocery vendors might provide you polythene or cloth bags with the eatables - discard them immediately. The best way to store them is to vacuum seal in zip lock bags and refrigerate if you need to consume them later. India Bazaar has a vast range. Check it out here!

Can I consume the skin (peels) of fruits and vegetables?
Yes, only after cleaning properly. 

“Bonus Content” (on Eating Safe)
Already developed the habit of cleaning your groceries thoroughly? Kudos! Now, it is time to go through those last checkpoints - before you actually consume your food. Eating clean and virus-free food is indeed one of the easiest ways to deal with the Covid-19 outbreak. Washing hands before eating will step up your practice. 

In addition, try to avoid using your hands while eating. Kids should also be fed using spoons having long handles. Try to wear fresh clothes while eating so that the spread through the air can also be checked. Sanitizing utensils using anti-microbial washes might also save you. Do not consume street food and try to keep all eatables covered. 

Conclusion: Cleanliness is the Key

Battling an incurable disease like Covid-19 might be too difficult. Therefore, one must try to prevent it to the highest possible extent. Eating habits determine the extent of spread too and might lead to further contamination if ignored. If you are not sure about where to get your essentials from, check out India Bazaar’s catalog. Click here to know more.

Ultimately, it boils down to the fact that consuming hygienic food is crucial for controlling the spread of viral diseases. Since the contamination might be food-borne or air-borne, the best way to reduce the chances is to clean up as much as possible. Remember to wash your hands before eating as well. Hope you found this article useful!