Updated 4/7/20

This is an attempt to put out a summary of safe guidelines for people to follow while grocery shopping. This checklist is pulled from several credible sources as well as personal experience. But I am not a medical professional and make no claims these guidelines are infallible. Neither I nor anyone else can provide guidelines for grocery shoppers that would reduce the risk of catching the virus to zero. We are all learning more about COVID-19 every day. It’s a new virus and it’s hard to study because the data is incomplete (e.g. lack of testing in the US; incomplete reporting from China; different models of reporting fatalities from Great Britain, etc) and it’s happening in real time. So, with these caveats in mind, please read on. And if you have anything to add or correct, please do so. I can be reached at jon@jon-rice.com.

The good news at this point (4/7/20), is that there is still no conclusive evidence that the virus is being spread by food containers or food itself. The available evidence at this point suggests the intensity of the virus varies directly with one’s level of exposure to it (see the New York Times, 4/1/20, These Coronavirus Exposures Might Be the Most Dangerous:
As with any other poison, viruses are usually deadlier in larger amounts). The main way the virus is spread is human-to-human contact. The bad news, however, is that grocery store workers at least elsewhere in the country are getting sick and dying (see The Washington Post, 4/7/20, Grocery workers are beginning to die of coronavirus).

So the first rule about trips to the grocery store remains: go as few times as possible. [Read more…]