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Kitty4670
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28 May 2020, 2:03 am

If you put groceries in the fridge without cleaning & you not touch them for a few days, will it be ok, cuz of the cold?



I love belko61
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28 May 2020, 9:39 am

https://hub.jhu.edu/2020/03/20/sars-cov-2-survive-on-surfaces/

There is no evidence one way or the other. The virus's viability in exposure to heat or cold has not been studied. But it does bear pointing out that the New England Journal of Medicine study was performed at about room temperature, 21-23 degrees Celsius.

The study found that the virus is viable for up to 72 hours on plastics, 48 hours on stainless steel, 24 hours on cardboard, and 4 hours on copper. It is also detectable in the air for three hours.

While the New England Journal of Medicine study found that the COVID virus can be detected in the air for 3 hours, in nature, respiratory droplets sink to the ground faster than the aerosols produced in this study. The experimental aerosols used in labs are smaller than what comes out of a cough or sneeze, so they remain in the air at face-level longer than heavier particles would in nature.

What's getting a lot of press and is presented out of context is that the virus can last on plastic for 72 hours—which sounds really scary. But what's more important is the amount of the virus that remains. It's less than 0.1% of the starting virus material. Infection is theoretically possible but unlikely at the levels remaining after a few days. People need to know this.


So...even if the cold has no bearing - max time virus survived was 3 days on plastic or 1 day on cardboard - at room temperature in perfect lab conditions. I think food in the fridge a few days should be safe to handle.

Anyone disagree?



Kitty4670
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06 Jun 2020, 3:58 am

This whole thing is confusing.



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08 Jun 2020, 4:14 am

Food in the frigde should be safe, even more so for frozen foods. Germs, whether bacteria or viruses generally don't do well in harsher conditions. The cold of the fridge and the icy cold of the freezer are definitely harsh conditions. Germs also don't like fresh air, with it's trace amounts of ozone, and the UV light in sunlight. UV light devices have been used to kill germs indoors for years. I don't get out much, so I bought an ionizing ozone generator with a UV light to treat my apartment. Since prolonged exposure to the ozone and UV light are also harmful to humans, not just germs, you need to leave the room after turning the thing on, but it has a timer to shut itself off. My model also has 3 power settings, and I only use the low setting, as I don't really need it set higher than that. I also only set the timer for 20 to 30 minutes. My unit is also small enough to carry to another room for use in other parts of my apartment.

Keep safe and well all!


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Kitty4670
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10 Jun 2020, 1:35 am

I got groceries a few days, I didn’t clean them, I just put them in my fridge & freezer, I put them on paper towels. I was sooo hurting that why I didn’t clean.



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10 Jun 2020, 2:47 am

that is literally all groceries ever, and we are all still alive.



so yes.


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goldfish21
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10 Jun 2020, 9:32 pm

Kitty4670 wrote:
If you put groceries in the fridge without cleaning & you not touch them for a few days, will it be ok, cuz of the cold?


I would bet on No and here’s why:

Prolonged exposure to Heat kills coronaviruses, whereas some coronaviruses have been known to live for up to 2 YEARS in freezing temperatures.

That’s why hot food is safer than cold food and why groceries should be washed or rinsed and dried before putting them in the fridge just to be super safe.

Overall, touching groceries PROBABLY won’t give you COVID-19, buuuut, you just never know if someone may have coughed or sneezed on the apples you bought soooo safest to just rinse things off when you bring them into your home.


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11 Jun 2020, 9:10 pm

I wipe all stuff down that needs refrigeration and leave the rest sitting on the porch in the heat for a day or two then bring in.


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12 Jun 2020, 9:37 pm

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/featur ... rns-expert

Quote:
“Research into similar coronavirus strains has shown that, in general, coronaviruses are stable in freezing temperatures and have been shown to survive for up to two years at -20 degrees Celsius,” explained Dr. Mohamad Mooty, Department Chair, Infectious Diseases, Medical Subspecialty Institute, at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi.

Given that studies on SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, two recent coronavirus outbreaks, showed that viruses could survive for up to 72 hours at the average temperature of a fridge (4 degrees Celsius), Dr. Mooty said, “It is safe for us to assume that the virus responsible for COVID-19 might be similarly persistent.”

If the new coronavirus is as persistent as its predecessors, it could survive on surfaces in freezers long after authorities aim to have suppressed the pandemic – living on food packaging in a freezer, for example.


If it is like MERS or SARS viruses it can live up to 2 years in a freezer or 72 hours in a fridge.



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13 Jun 2020, 1:48 am

The virus actually last longer in the cold, or so the news report. It's heat it doesn't like.

We put new food in quarantine for a week, and if we use it earlier, take it out carefully and wash our hands well.
These days we only buy fruits/veggies that can be washed. Just earlier this week we washed 2 tomatoes in Zalo (soap for doing the dishes by hand).
Like with hands, rubbing soap for about 30 seconds is a must, or there is little point as it takes a little while to ruin the virus's 'coat' and render it harmless.

2 years in freezer?? Oh man, we've been lucky then, as we thought it was safe way sooner than that.... Thanks for the heads up, Goldfish and Noca!


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Kitty4670
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19 Jun 2020, 12:36 am

Why less time in the fridge & 2 years in the freezer?