Food Safety during COVID-19

Leave your home-prepared with your shopping list in mind or ideally written down on a piece of paper. This will reduce the time you spend wandering around the store trying to figure out what else you might need and help you avoid another trip to the store.

Keep the 3W’s in mind: Wash your hands, wear a mask, watch your distance.

Before you head out to the grocery store, wash your hands with soap and water for at least 40-60 seconds or rub your hands with sanitizer for a minimum of 20 seconds.

Leave the house prepared. Take disinfectants and gloves with your outing. When you walk into the store, sanitize your hands with alcohol-based sanitizer for at least 20 seconds, wear gloves and wipe down the handles of your shopping cart or basket with an anti-bacterial wipe. Don’t rely on the store to provide these items.

Some stores allow you to bring reusable shopping bags, remember to always wash these bags between each shopping trip.

Wear a face mask as soon as you leave your home. When donning on a face mask, always sanitize your hands first.

Remember to not only keep your hands to yourself but to keep your hands away from your face, especially if your hands have come in to contact with unwashed items. Viruses can enter the body through your mouth, nose, or eyes.

To help keep you safe, practice physical distancing by keeping two meters between yourself and others at all times, even while waiting in line at the check-out counter. When shopping for fruits and vegetables, select packaged or wrapped produce when possible. Check fresh produce with your eyes, not hands, and avoid touching items unnecessarily especially if you don’t plan on buying them. Choose produce that isn’t bruised or damaged. In your shopping cart, keep your fruits and vegetables separated from any poultry, raw meat, or fish. When you are ready to purchase your groceries, use your card instead of cash. Remove and dispose of your gloves before you get in your car and then immediately sanitize your hands.

As soon as you get home and again after you have put all of your groceries away wash your hands with soap and water for a full 40-60 seconds. Clean food packages and cans using antibacterial wipes. When you are unpacking your groceries, make sure that you refrigerate or freeze any perishables you have purchased such as eggs, fish, poultry or meat within two hours of your time of purchase.

Wash or scrub fruits and vegetables under running water before eating or preparing them, then dry with a clean paper towel. Even if you don’t plan to eat the peel, wash it. Germs on the peel can get inside fruits and vegetables when you cut them. Washing fruits and vegetables with soap or detergent is not recommended. Do not use bleach solutions or other disinfecting products on food.

Don’t forget to wipe down surfaces that your groceries came in contact with using an antibacterial household cleaner, including kitchen countertops.

Before preparing or eating food, it's important to wash your hands with clean water and soap for a minimum of 40-60 second seconds, if handwashing is not an option, you can sanitize your hands for at least 20 seconds with a 60-percent alcohol-based sanitizer.