It’s still unclear whether the novel Coronavirus spreads through food, but it’s always better to exercise caution. Whilst the Center for Disease Control, USA acknowledges that there is very little chance of transmission through food or packaging, WHO states that it is always better to disinfect the food packaging Handling food packaging in the right manner during the pandemic is extremely important.
In this blog, we’d discuss how to clean and disinfect food packaging during COVID-19.
Cleaning and Disinfecting Your Groceries and Food Packaging
Groceries are usually sold and delivered in cardboard containers, aluminum cans, plastic wraps, and glass jars or bottles. SARS-CoV-2 remains active on cardboard, aluminum, and plastic surfaces up to twenty-four, forty-eight, and seventy-two hours respectively. So, it’s essential to clean the food packaging. Note that the 2019 novel coronavirus can thrive up to nearly a month on glass surfaces. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to disinfect food packaging.
Wash Your Hands
No matter if you have gone outside to purchase your groceries or they are delivered directly to your home, always remember to thoroughly clean your hands for a minimum of twenty seconds with plain soap and water. Now, dry the water completely and put on a pair of disposable gloves. If soap and water are not available, you can use a hand sanitizer with a minimum of sixty percent alcohol content.
Disinfect Your Surroundings
You should also make sure to sanitize the surroundings before opening any food packaging. For instance, if you intend to unload and handle the groceries in the kitchen, ensure that its surfaces are thoroughly cleaned before using a homemade or commercially available disinfectant.
You can also use a dedicated garbage bin for disposing of all the emptied food packaging material along with any carrying bags and brown paper packets that you used for carrying the food articles to your home. Never forget to disinfect it in an aforementioned manner daily.
Sanitize the Food Packaging Materials
It’s essential to wear protective gear on the hands before opening the grocery packaging. Before that, dip a paper towel in a disinfectant solution for application on food packing materials. Now, start rubbing the disinfectant-soaked paper towel everywhere on the exterior surfaces of the food packaging materials and keep sanitizing them one by one.
Post that, remove the disposable gloves and throw them away along with the emptied containers inside the dedicated trash can. Going forward, thoroughly wash your hands, as mentioned before, and dry them completely.
Clean the Fresh Produce
Although the Food and Drug Administration in the USA does NOT recommend cleaning vegetables with soap due to the chances of ingesting, you may do so as long as you remember to thoroughly wash the soap off the fruits and vegetables with water under the faucet. Otherwise, scrub them in plain tap water for a minimum of twenty seconds.
Some experts also advise immersing the fresh produce in a solution of water and potassium permanganate for a minimum of five minutes. To suffice, under no circumstances should you apply soap on eggs, poultry, and meat with soap.
Takeaway
It is always better to be safe than sorry, and you are never late to learn how to clean and disinfect food packaging during COVID-19. So, are you planning to sanitize your groceries and food packaging materials the next time you are done with supermarket hopping? Do let us know by commenting below!
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That was very informative. The germs found in the food preparation area can be the cause of many foodborne illnesses and it is high-time to follow these measures to keep the food products clean and sanitized. Thanks for sharing these tips!