How To Sanitize Groceries from New Coronavirus Strain

How to Disinfect Grocery From Covid 19 Mutant the Right Way! - PGI Doctor Explains D uring the pandemic, as people bring essential or ot...

How to Disinfect Grocery From Covid 19 Mutant the Right Way! - PGI Doctor Explains

During the pandemic, as people bring essential or other items home, the fear of contracting COVID-19 from the same also looms large. PGIMEM’s Department of Community Medicine and School

Of Public Health professor Dr.GOEL explains why regular sanitizers are not recommended for fruits and vegetables and for handling cooked foods could be a cause of concern. While BUSTING MYTHS Professor  Goel also shed light on following the protocol while bringing essential items to one’s home.    

                           

How can we ensure safety as we get vegetables and fruits from vendors?

The virus is likely to remain on the fruits and vegetables for 6-8 hours and if they are exposed to heat (like heat from the Sun) then the virus stays on it for less than 4 hours, in any case, if a person purchase fruits and vegetables from local
vendors, the general protocol should be that they should keep their purchased item exposed to the sun for 4hours within the packet itself. And after 4hours,  wash the eatables with warm water and baking soda or keep the eatables in warm water to ensure complete safety.

There are many who use regular sanitizers on fruits and vegetables. Is it a suitable method?

Sanitizers are completely not recommended for fruits and vegetables, rather they can be harmful because of the presence of harmful/harsh chemicals, moreover, there are no
evidence that  sanitizers can kill viruses (the bottle of sanitizers clearly mentions that they can be used to kill 99.9% bacteria ). Therefore sanitizers should be used for hands, steel surfaces. Spraying chemical on fruits and vegetables becomes all the more harmful as the chemicals being sprayed on the eatables which one will consume. Warm water is enough or puts a drop of Potassium Permanganate (KMnO4), which you can purchase from a nearby chemist shop just dips the eatables in the warm water containing a drop of (KMnO4). It’s the safest way to use and also pocket friendly.

 In this case, you don’t have it use baking soda instead it will do the same. Just make sure that you wear a face mask while doing it.

What should be done in case of items like bananas that can’t be dipped in warm water or washed?

It’s like a catch 2-2 situations especially now in the summers, when the temperature is high and there are perishable items also. Such items should be put in that place where heat does not reach directly. The aim is not to expose yourselves  to these things and keep them outside for 3-4 hours before consuming them. Do not immediately cook or consume these fruits and vegetables.

How to sanitize medicine strips ?

 In the case of medicine strips too there is no evidence found that regular sanitizers work on them. Keep them in the closed box at room temperature. One should not get exposed to them immediately after buying them as they too have exchanged hands several times. Make sure that you do not put them in direct sunlight as the medicines can lose their efficiency.

 Many companies have launched vegetable sanitizers, Do you recommend ?

I would suggest that only to purchase the vegetable sanitizer if and only if it contains Potassium Permanganate(KMnO4), else not to purchase that product.

What one should do with the case of grocery items such as cheese, milk which can’t be kept outside for 4 hours ?

If cheese and milk packets are packed one should wash them with soap and water and immediately dispose of the outer packet ( all process should be done while wearing a  mask ). However, these packets should not be disposed of in an open dustbin. They should be discarded in such a way that such that they are not directly exposed to any human being. In the case of plastic, metals, steel, or cold drink cans the virus remains for about 24-48 hours.  Thus such items should not be refrigerated but should be kept in a room where there is no human exposure.

  What to do in case of newspaper or stationery items? Many governments are sanitizing the books and recommending the same.

Viruses cannot remain or survive in newspapers as the ink used in printing is made from petroleum in which the retention of viruses is very short, but the cash and books should be kept outside for 2-3 hours before using them. Sanitizers should not be used in these articles.

 How should the purchased garment shoes are sanitized? Should received letters and couriers be sanitized?                                        

 One should make sure that  the shoes worn outside should never be worn inside the house, as there could be possibilities that the person could have stepped on the infected person’s spit or similar contaminated surfaces. In case of new garment or shoes purchase they should be kept in the veranda or balcony for about 24 hours. It is recommended to wash the garments properly before wearing them. Courier or the post received should be kept in sunlight before accessed if paper-based, it should be kept under sunlight for about 4 hours, while plastic-based should be disinfected, one should ensure that they use  their own pen for sighing any receipt.

key points of the article are highlighted for the ease of the reader.

              ~thanks for visiting~