Top Tips to Ensure Safety While Ordering Food Online

Do you crave for delicious samosas and chole? Has the lockdown life left you tempted to order from outside? Well, you can still indulge in some food from outside in the COVID-19 era by ordering online. But how safe is it to order food online during the COVID-19 times? The COVID-19 pandemic has already had its impact on festivals in 2020 with several of them being celebrated at home instead of the usual massive processions and throngs of people. Not to mention how there are concerns over eating food outside or simply pulling down the face mask to sip some water. It might get a little concerning for you, but we have a fair argument that will help you feel at ease when ordering food online. As long as you are able to follow some of the tips and tricks while ordering food online, it will help you satiate your cravings and further feel secure.

Tips to ensure safety and health when ordering food online

Contactless delivery

Thumb rule of collecting packages or food deliveries during COVID-19 era is to keep it contactless. This means that you need to be very careful about how you pick up your food package. Many food delivery apps have initiated contactless delivery which means that they wouldn't come up all the way to your doorstep to deliver the food. Instead, they will ask you to come to the gate to collect the delivery. Or they will leave the package with your watchman. Basically, no matter what happens, you wouldn't be in contact with the delivery man, which is perfectly safe. Aggregators also have a disabled cash-on-delivery option as that would involve being in contact with the delivery person. In order to avoid any kind of contact between the customer and delivery man, there have been many contactless delivery protocols initiated. Further, you will also get an update on the temperature status of the delivery person to assure you that they are being screened regularly.

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Immediately discard the package

As soon as you receive the food delivery, the first thing that you should do is make sure that you have transferred the food from the package to a plate. Once you do that, immediately dispose of the box as well as the plastic in which your food arrived. According to the New England Journal of Medicine's latest study, it has been revealed that the coronavirus has the ability to survive on cardboards for up to 24 hours and three whole days on plastic. While it does sound shocking and alarming, you do not have to worry too much. As soon as you discard the package in which the food was delivered, you can follow the necessary safety guidelines and ensure that you are healthy and safe. While the Centres have also stated for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that the transmission of the virus from food packaging is comparatively very low, just to be on the safe side, disposing of the package would be better. This includes the cardboard, the foil, the plastic and everything that was used to pack the food.

Choose a specific place to collect the package

In terms of interacting with people or stepping out in public spaces during COVID-19 pandemic, the ideal way to go about picking your food delivery would be to fix a spot. Since you need to avoid public spaces that are usually used by a plethora of people, you can pick a space with minimal public activity. This could be at one specific building or complex gate. Or even if the delivery person comes right under your building, you can pick a space that has been properly sanitized for you to collect your delivery. That way, you will be adhering to the health guidelines, safeguarding your stance as well as that of the delivery person. Further, you will also be able to follow social distancing guidelines as set by the government and health authorities.

Reheat the food

Heating the food once after you have received the package is also a good habit that you can start. Although the food that you consume might already be hot, it is best to heat it again just to be sure. According to the WHO guidelines, coronavirus is susceptible to normal cooking temperatures which are usually 70 degrees Celsius. It would be best to simply heat the food that you receive for your health safety. It is a great precautionary measure to undertake, especially when you're consuming food from outside and not the one that you have cooked yourself.

Wash your hands for 30 seconds

As soon as you return and transfer the food from the package to the plate, you throw the box and wash your hands. During this entire period, it would be ideal not to touch your face, eyes, nose and mouth. It is a simple process, but one to remember. The whole point is to discard any point of contact you have had from the time you went to pick your order to the time you got the food back home—the WHO has announced that a minimum of 20 second-hand wash practice needs to be implemented by people. Hence, you should also follow the same after completing the whole food delivery transaction. Either you can wash your hands or even sanitize your hands. As long as you are using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer before you consume food, it is a good habit.

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