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Takeout in the time of Coronavirus


Sbbruin

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So being home bound for weeks, and cooking most meals in.  But working as well and made lunch for the first time in over ten years rather than eating out.  Don’t trust people making food.  But can I?  Would like to eat restaurant prepared meals and DoorDash type delivery if it’s safe.  What’s the word on what my best bets are?  Seems to me people clinging to a low paying job aren’t likely to call in sick and risk losing it.  

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I know people keep saying to order out to support local restaurants, but I don’t trust it at all.

How many total strangers will be involved in preparing and handling your food? How can you trust that people you’ve never met are not sick, taking social distancing seriously, and practicing good hygiene? You can’t.

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11 minutes ago, wild_turkey said:

I know people keep saying to order out to support local restaurants, but I don’t trust it at all.

How many total strangers will be involved in preparing and handling your food? How can you trust that people you’ve never met are not sick, taking social distancing seriously, and practicing good hygiene? You can’t.

Exactly my concern.  I don’t know who is back there and what precautions have been taken.

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From what’s known about the virus, there’s no recorded instance of it being transmitted through food. Same was true of SARS & MERS. Assuming that they missed a few, that’s still not a high risk medium of infection. If you want to be extra careful just microwave stuff for a few seconds.

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1 hour ago, Helobious said:

From what’s known about the virus, there’s no recorded instance of it being transmitted through food. Same was true of SARS & MERS. Assuming that they missed a few, that’s still not a high risk medium of infection. If you want to be extra careful just microwave stuff for a few seconds.

 

i have to 40 cans of spam and 75 boxes of fideo to consume 

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I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure cooking the food kills the virus. The packaging probably poses more of a risk than the food. I eat out a lot; mostly carryout, and plan to do that a lot less. But I picked up a pie from my favorite pizza joint on Saturday. They're worth the risk. And at some point I plan to order carryout from my favorite Chinese place to show them my support. I figure I'm probably more at risk when I go to the grocery store. 

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I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure cooking the food kills the virus. The packaging probably poses more of a risk than the food.


I agree the packaging is probably a bigger concern but I also think the food itself could be a problem depending on what it is and how it’s handled.
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So being home bound for weeks, and cooking most meals in.  But working as well and made lunch for the first time in over ten years rather than eating out.  Don’t trust people making food.  But can I?  Would like to eat restaurant prepared meals and DoorDash type delivery if it’s safe.  What’s the word on what my best bets are?  Seems to me people clinging to a low paying job aren’t likely to call in sick and risk losing it.  


You trying to run the cup o’ pizza guy outta business?
84c79acc518a1c2e3e91fa8e764b61e6.jpg
What are you, some kinda jerk?
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8 hours ago, Helobious said:

From what’s known about the virus, there’s no recorded instance of it being transmitted through food. Same was true of SARS & MERS. Assuming that they missed a few, that’s still not a high risk medium of infection. If you want to be extra careful just microwave stuff for a few seconds.

This. The main risk is the container, just wash your hands after opening the container and again after disposing of the container. Take the food out, nuke it for a few seconds, eat. 

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From the WHO.int website: 

Is it safe to receive a package from any area where COVID-19 has been reported?

Yes. The likelihood of an infected person contaminating commercial goods is low and the risk of catching the virus that causes COVID-19 from a package that has been moved, travelled, and exposed to different conditions and temperature is also low. 

Also, you can just unbox/unbag your food (or beer), throw the packaging away, wash your hands, then eat or drink away. 

Just use common sense. 

Edited by boknowstecmo
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1 minute ago, formermav43 said:

By this same logic, you shouldn’t eat anything at home either. There’s  no way to know who handled all your canned Spam and what the surfaces of the containers might have present.

Good luck starving to death.

Bit of a reach, but OK.  The logic of some infected worker assembling a sandwich, burrito, burger, etc, wrapping it and handing it to me seems to be a bit different than someone in a manufacturing plant or packaging plant doing the same thing.

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19 minutes ago, Sbbruin said:

Bit of a reach, but OK.  The logic of some infected worker assembling a sandwich, burrito, burger, etc, wrapping it and handing it to me seems to be a bit different than someone in a manufacturing plant or packaging plant doing the same thing.

What about an infected person touching the cans as they peruse? Or an infected stocker?

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5 minutes ago, 4th&Five said:

If most of us are going to get it at some point anyway I’d rather get it from my takeout while I’m already sitting at home doing nothing and not spread it around. 

Truth 

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1 hour ago, formermav43 said:

By this same logic, you shouldn’t eat anything at home either. There’s  no way to know who handled all your canned Spam and what the surfaces of the containers might have present.

Not the same in my opinion. Although we know SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted through fomites, it has a limited lifespan on fomites and that varies by the material type. There was a study done that specifically looked at this:

https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/sars-cov-2-can-live-on-plastic-and-steel-for-23-days-67260

So yes, the food you buy at the store could be contaminated with the virus. If you're concerned about that you can wipe it down with ethanol or bleach wipes when you get it home. Otherwise, I think putting it in the cabinet and letting it sit a few days is probably sufficient to clear the contamination. My wife and I went to the liquor store the other day to stock up on beer and wine. We wiped every bottle and can when we got home and then put them out of the way so we wouldn't need them in the first 2-3 days. That should be fine at this point.

Compare that to takeout food where the food and its container have been handled by one or multiple strangers in the last 30-60 minutes prior to you eating it. For all you know, someone was coughing near the pizza boxes that day, or maybe they scratched their face immediately before putting your food in the styrofoam to-go container. If you are only ordering hot items and you are transferring them to a new container and then microwaving at home prior to eating, then I agree its very low risk. But if you are eating items that can't be microwaved like fruit, salad, certain desserts, etc. then I don't see any way that you can know the safety of that food.

Just my opinion. I feel awful for the local restaurants but not worth the risk for me right now. We cook pretty damn good meals on our own.

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There are a million damn ways to get this shit, but takeout isn't likely to be any risker than going to the grocery store.  The one precaution is packaging.  Unless somebody sneezes droplets onto your fully prepared food, or food packaging you aren't going to get it.  The amount of gloves used and sanitation is MUCH easier for any restaurant to control without a bunch of customers coming in and out. 

Is there risk? Sure, but it's the same risk you get picking up any item at the grocery store and putting it on a shelf.  

Honestly I don't think there will be enough to go revenue to keep most of the little guys alive.  

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46 minutes ago, LABEVO said:

I am shocked at the line of cars at McDonalds, etc past couple of days.

Maybe I should be buying McDonalds stock. 

My buddy own a few McD franchises in Oz and he told me yesterday this”is a bloody f’ing disaster” for them...

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1 hour ago, Grimas said:

My buddy own a few McD franchises in Oz and he told me yesterday this”is a bloody f’ing disaster” for them...

drive through can only process so many meals.  Losing the entire dine-in portion of their biz has to hurt.

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48 minutes ago, smoky said:

I kinda want these places to be open once I come out of my shelter, so I'll try to support them as best I can.

Maybe throw everything in the microwave for ten seconds first.  That should do it, right?

Recommended 15 second (posted somewhere). Better go with 16 to be sure. 

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Ordered takeout from the local gastropub down the street last night. Walked in and it was the bartender sadly sitting there with two takeout order bags in front of her. Tipped her a little extra and she was super grateful. These people are struggling and the local restaurants won't make it without your support. So please do your part 

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If you are at home due to the virus situation, take heed that there is a stom warning for a large swath of Texas:
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Stay safe out there folks, we all know spring kicks in sooner than most would like (humidity/ hail/ ´nadoes) for anyone...

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1 hour ago, formermav43 said:

Death looks pretty appealing in comparison.

It is to die for. 

Csb? The last time I went to Skyline, I was sitting at the drive thru window when the news broke on the radio of Kobe Bryant's death. The guy handed me my order and I said, "Holy shit! Kobe Bryant was killed in a helicopter crash! I just heard it on the radio." So I was the one to break the news to the staff at the Skyline at Mill Run in Hilliard, OH. 

I had a 5-way and a coney. It was excellent. 

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Didn't read the whole thread (short though it may be; it's late).  But saw an article from the Ireland board of health or some such (it was St. Patrick's Day, so I took it as a sign).  It said that with SARS, 140 F for 30 minutes killed SARS.  They say, that probably would work for COVID19.  I figure 170 (my oven's warm setting) for 20--30 minutes will do it.  Or just nuke it.  

Just roast the little bastards and support local small restaurants.

 

https://www.fsai.ie/faq/coronavirus.html

Edited by dcbc
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