Wondering how to disinfect your groceries from coronavirus? Leaving your groceries in your garage for three days in an effort to kill off the coronavirus is a very, very bad idea, experts at two New Jersey universities said.

The advice to leave your groceries outside as a way to disinfect them comes from a viral video shared by a family doctor in Michigan. The video also advocates for disinfecting every single box, repackaging all dried foods, and washing all fresh foods with soap. Is all of this really necessary?

Definitely not, two experts told NJ Advance Media.

That’s a surgical level of sterilization, and probably overkill, Dr. Claude Krummenacher,​ a virologist and assistant professor at Rowan University in Glassboro, said.

“Coronavirus is clearly a concern, but that video goes really to the extreme, using very sterile techniques you use in a hospital setting at home,” Krummenacher​. “The food is not going to kill you. I understand that people want to be careful, but I think they should not be overly paranoid about your tin of peas."

Donald Schaffner, a distinguished professor and extension specialist in food science with expertise in microbial risk assessment and hand washing at Rutgers, agreed, telling NJ Advance Media, “I hope that you’re not going to take food safety advice from somebody without the proper qualifications.”

Don’t leave your groceries outside for three days

Both warned that leaving food out in the garage was a recipe for other serious foodborne illnesses and food poisoning.

“Are you really going to leave your carton of milk and your deli meats in your unrefrigerated garage for three days?” Scahffner said. He said this advice assumes that “all groceries are contaminated, and that simply touching the groceries will make you sick, neither of which are true.”

“It’s very, very unlikely that any item of food is sufficiently contaminated to cause an infection,” Krummenacher​ said.

It’s overkill to sanitize every single box

The virus does not live long on surfaces like cardboard, lasting only about 24 hours, the National Institute of Health says. “This is not a very sturdy virus,” Krummenacher.

Changing out the container is “probably not unreasonable," but it’s not the main way the virus is transmitted, Krummenacher said.

“I don’t think it’s really necessary, but it’s not going to hurt if people want to wipe their canned food for plastic containers,” Krummenacher said.

Schaffner said as long as you wash your hands before dipping into your boxes of snacks, you’ll be fine. “And guess what? Washing your hands before you eat is a best practice even when we’re not in a pandemic,” he said.

You should wash your fruits and veggies, but not with soap

Washing fresh fruits and vegetables is good advice all the time. But don’t use soap.

“Soap should absolutely not be used to wash food. It’s not designed for that. Soap can cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea if ingested,” Schaffner said.

Rinsing fruits and vegetables with cold water before peeling them is best practice, the FDA says.

“You should always wash (fruits and vegetables), it’s not something new with this coronavirus,” Krummenacher said. "It can help clear away all types of viruses that live on food, not just the coronavirus.

There have been no studies done to see how long the coronavirus lives on fruits and vegetables, he said.

Designating a “dirty area” when unpacking groceries can help contain germs

Keeping your unpacked bags in a singular area in your kitchen can help limit the areas you need to clean up later, Krummenacher said.

“Once you’ve finished organizing your groceries, wash your hands and then wash that (part of the counter),” he said. “But you should be doing this all of the time anyway.”

And it doesn’t matter if you used the stores plastic bags or brought your own from home.

“If you’re concerned that your bags might have coronavirus on them you can wash them,” Schaffner said, calling this another grocery shopping best practice. “You should also wash your hands after we have finished putting all your groceries away.”

It’s possible to go to the store safely

“You don’t want to be so afraid of grocery shopping that you don’t eat anymore,” Krummenacher said.

Both professors recommended limiting your time in the store, limiting the number of things you touch, and washing your hands thoroughly after shopping.

“I would probably touch as few things as possible and be as quick as possible. I don’t want to be around people as much as possible,” Krummenacher said.

Shoppers should take advantage of any hand sanitizers or sanitizing wipes some stores are placing at their entrances, Schaffner said.

“If there is hand sanitizer available, I also use it when I’m exiting the store, and then I’ll use it again at home once I finished putting all my groceries away and returning my reusable shopping bags to the car,” he said.

If you’re high risk, take advantage of delivery or special high-risk hours

Because the main concern with grocery shopping are the other shoppers, Krummenacher recommended using home delivery services when possible.

Although a number of companies offer delivery or personal shopper services in New Jersey, many of those time slots are booked solid forcing residents to head out to the store to restock on supplies.

In that case, residents should head to the stores when they’re less busy, like senior hours, to make social distancing easier.

“If I was at risk I’d try not to go to the store, but if I have to go then yes, take advantage of going during (special hours),” Krummenacher said.

But if you don’t want to go out, delivery is still safe

And if you don’t feel like cooking anything with your newly purchased groceries, delivery remains a perfectly safe option. Schaffner previously told NJ Advance Media that ordering take-out posed very little risk of spreading the coronavirus, particularly if you do contactless delivery.

And it doesn’t matter if the food it hot or cold, because there’s no evidence the virus can be transmitted through food at all, he said.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether it’s a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Sign up for text message alerts from NJ.com on coronavirus in New Jersey:





Katie Kausch may be reached at kkausch@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KatieKausch. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Have a tip? Tell us: nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.com’s newsletters.