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bugcounter's profile
Don Schaffner 🦠
Don Schaffner 🦠
Don Schaffner  🦠
@bugcounter

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Don Schaffner  🦠

@bugcounter

Distinguished Professor & Extension Specialist, Rutgers. Fighting innumeracy, dithering and equivocating. Aka “Dr. Don” and lately lots of COVID-19 content.

An old mill town in New Jersey
foodsci.rutgers.edu/faculty/schaff…
Joined August 2008

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    Don Schaffner  🦠‏ @bugcounter 26 Mar 2020

    Unless you are living under a rock or have already perished from COVID-19, you've likely seen a YouTube video making the rounds where a medical doctor (wearing scrubs!) purports to give COVID-19 advice. (1/33)

    4:29 PM - 26 Mar 2020
    • 8,289 Retweets
    • 13,724 Likes
    • 𝓛𝓪𝓻𝓪 𝓗𝓮𝓻𝓻𝓮𝓻𝓸 💖 shea Azamat 🅴🅼🅼🅰 🅹🅾🅷🅽🆂🅾🅽 😋 Mike Solomon CelestiaLight15 Ms. No BS 💎👐🏽🙌🏽 Summer Curtis Emily Stanley
    430 replies 8,289 retweets 13,724 likes
      1. New conversation
      2. Don Schaffner  🦠‏ @bugcounter 26 Mar 2020

        I'm not going link to the video, because if you haven't seen it, consider yourself lucky. First of all, scrubs? Aren't those meant for being around sick people? Why would you wear something like that in your house. It seems very irresponsible. (2/33)

        47 replies 65 retweets 1,326 likes
        Show this thread
      3. Don Schaffner  🦠‏ @bugcounter 26 Mar 2020

        I'm a food microbiologist. Would you like me to give you advice on how to care for your sick kids? I don't think so. Don't take food safety or microbiology advice from MDs that don't understand food, science or very much about microbiology. (3/33)

        18 replies 208 retweets 1,713 likes
        Show this thread
      4. Don Schaffner  🦠‏ @bugcounter 26 Mar 2020

        There are a few things that he gets right, but I'm not going to focus on those. I'm going to spend my time here focusing on the things that he gets partly or completely wrong. (4/33)

        10 replies 57 retweets 853 likes
        Show this thread
      5. Don Schaffner  🦠‏ @bugcounter 26 Mar 2020

        He completely misrepresented the 17 days figure from CDC. This was based on finding viral RNA, not infectious viral particles. The CDC report also does not give the methods used but cites personal communication... impossible to peer review. (5/33)

        7 replies 93 retweets 1,357 likes
        Show this thread
      6. Don Schaffner  🦠‏ @bugcounter 26 Mar 2020

        Should I keep my groceries in the garage or on the porch for 3 days? This is patently ridiculous. Are you really going to keep your milk, your ice cream, your deli meats outside for three days? (6/33)

        41 replies 159 retweets 1,651 likes
        Show this thread
      7. Don Schaffner  🦠‏ @bugcounter 26 Mar 2020

        This also has very important food safety implications. This sounds like a recipe for disaster, or at the very least spoiled food. (7/33)

        8 replies 52 retweets 1,152 likes
        Show this thread
      8. Don Schaffner  🦠‏ @bugcounter 26 Mar 2020

        There is a tiny nugget of truth in this advice, because we know that the virus is slowly inactivated at room temperature, with a half-life of about eight hours. (8/33)

        7 replies 83 retweets 1,006 likes
        Show this thread
      9. Don Schaffner  🦠‏ @bugcounter 26 Mar 2020

        But this advice presumes that all groceries are contaminated, and the simply touching the groceries will make you sick, neither of which are true. (9/33)

        10 replies 106 retweets 1,187 likes
        Show this thread
      10. Don Schaffner  🦠‏ @bugcounter 26 Mar 2020

        Do I really need to disinfect all of the individual boxes & baggies everything came in? I also think that this is also advice that does not make scientific sense. (10/33)

        8 replies 91 retweets 1,010 likes
        Show this thread
      11. Don Schaffner  🦠‏ @bugcounter 26 Mar 2020

        If you are concerned about the outside of food packages being contaminated, I suggest that you wash your hands and or sanitize your hands before you sit down to eat any food that you might've taken out of those containers. (11/33)

        17 replies 194 retweets 1,398 likes
        Show this thread
      12. Don Schaffner  🦠‏ @bugcounter 26 Mar 2020

        And guess what, washing your hands before you eat is a best practice even when we're not in a pandemic! (12/33)

        5 replies 288 retweets 3,301 likes
        Show this thread
      13. Don Schaffner  🦠‏ @bugcounter 26 Mar 2020

        Don Schaffner  🦠 Retweeted Don Schaffner  🦠

        Do I really need to scrub all your fruits and veggies with soap before eating? This is the worst advice being given by this irresponsible MD. Soap should *absolutely* not be used to wash food. See my earlier comments: https://twitter.com/bugcounter/status/1242956925525995521?s=21 … (13/33)

        Don Schaffner  🦠 added,

        Don Schaffner  🦠 @bugcounter
        There's a bunch of people out there recommending you wash your fresh produce with soap. This is not a good idea. Soap is known to cause vomiting and or diarrhea. It’s for washing hands not for use on food. (1/6)
        Show this thread
        37 replies 539 retweets 2,120 likes
        Show this thread
      14. Don Schaffner  🦠‏ @bugcounter 26 Mar 2020

        Soap is not designed for food. As mentioned in the linked thread, soap can cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea if ingested. Current recommendations by scientific experts including the FDA, say to wash fresh fruits and vegetables in cold water. (14/33)

        20 replies 238 retweets 1,545 likes
        Show this thread
      15. Don Schaffner  🦠‏ @bugcounter 26 Mar 2020

        He also seems to have a belief that I find surprisingly common (including among food safety professionals). That is the belief that I referred to as "handwashing is magic". (15/33)

        3 replies 43 retweets 773 likes
        Show this thread
      16. Don Schaffner  🦠‏ @bugcounter 26 Mar 2020

        Hand washing is not magic, nor does it "sterilize" your hands as claimed in the video. The only way to sterilize your hands would be to plunge them into boiling water, which I don't recommend for obvious reasons. (16/33)

        14 replies 120 retweets 1,611 likes
        Show this thread
      17. Don Schaffner  🦠‏ @bugcounter 26 Mar 2020

        We've done research on handwashing in my lab. You can count on a hand wash (depending upon your technique), to likely give you somewhere between a 90 a 99% reduction in transient microorganisms on your hands. (17/33)

        7 replies 120 retweets 1,123 likes
        Show this thread
      18. Don Schaffner  🦠‏ @bugcounter 26 Mar 2020

        A microbiologist would call this a 1-2 logarithm reduction. Let's contrast that with the sterilization process used for canned foods. That would give you a 99.9999999999 percent reduction. In case you're counting, there's 12 nines in that number. (18/33)

        6 replies 51 retweets 839 likes
        Show this thread
      19. Don Schaffner  🦠‏ @bugcounter 26 Mar 2020

        Is washing your hands good? Of course it is. Is it going to sterilize your hands? Absolutely not. But it is a good risk reduction technique. As is the use of hand sanitizer. So do both of those things. (19/33)

        2 replies 85 retweets 1,064 likes
        Show this thread
      20. Don Schaffner  🦠‏ @bugcounter 26 Mar 2020

        If your hands are getting dry from too much handwashing, be sure to use some moisturizer. (20/33)

        2 replies 52 retweets 885 likes
        Show this thread
      21. Don Schaffner  🦠‏ @bugcounter 26 Mar 2020

        Also re: washing produce, people may wonder about "veggie wash" products. Many of these have not been evaluated for their effect on bacteria and none have been evaluated for their affect on SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent for COVID-19. (21/33)

        8 replies 93 retweets 919 likes
        Show this thread
      22. Don Schaffner  🦠‏ @bugcounter 26 Mar 2020

        Many of veggie washes are likely no more effective than water. On the other hand, if it makes you feel better, and you don't mind throwing money to the veggie wash company, I say go for it. (22/33)

        3 replies 68 retweets 791 likes
        Show this thread
      23. Don Schaffner  🦠‏ @bugcounter 26 Mar 2020

        Some people are also asking about vinegar for washing fresh produce. Again the research says it's not much better than plain water. Save the vinegar for oil and vinegar dressing on your salad. (23/33)

        11 replies 72 retweets 873 likes
        Show this thread
      24. Don Schaffner  🦠‏ @bugcounter 26 Mar 2020

        Are reusable bags risky? Many people use reusable bags as a responsible choice. We do this in my family as well. It's a best practice (even before the times of pandemic) to wash your reusable bags on a regular basis. (24/33)

        7 replies 99 retweets 1,027 likes
        Show this thread
      25. Don Schaffner  🦠‏ @bugcounter 26 Mar 2020

        While it is theoretically possible that a reusable bag may pick up germs, including coronavirus while in the grocery store, the biggest threat that anyone faces is someone else in the store who has COVID-19. (25/33)

        7 replies 104 retweets 1,001 likes
        Show this thread
      26. Don Schaffner  🦠‏ @bugcounter 26 Mar 2020

        I would suggest that you keep your grocery bags in the car, so you have them handy the next time you go shopping. If you're concerned that your bags might have coronavirus on them you can wash them. (26/33)

        8 replies 45 retweets 743 likes
        Show this thread
      27. Don Schaffner  🦠‏ @bugcounter 26 Mar 2020

        You should also wash your hands after you have finished putting all your groceries away. This was also a good advice even before pandemic. (27/33)

        4 replies 131 retweets 1,201 likes
        Show this thread
      28. Don Schaffner  🦠‏ @bugcounter 26 Mar 2020

        But Dr. Don, what I can do to reduce risk when grocery shopping? Many grocery stores are offering hand sanitizers at the entrance, and are offering to sanitize grocery carts. Both great ideas, and customers should take advantage if available. (28/33)

        8 replies 71 retweets 856 likes
        Show this thread
      29. Don Schaffner  🦠‏ @bugcounter 26 Mar 2020

        My other advice is to make a list, and know what you want, and move quickly and efficiently through the store picking out the items on your list. Practice appropriate social distancing, trying your best to keep 6 feet away from other shoppers. (29/33)

        12 replies 111 retweets 1,127 likes
        Show this thread
      30. Don Schaffner  🦠‏ @bugcounter 26 Mar 2020

        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. (30/33)

        4 replies 56 retweets 829 likes
        Show this thread
      31. Don Schaffner  🦠‏ @bugcounter 26 Mar 2020

        I'm going to ask you to share this tweet thread. As the video MD said it's not about popularity. In my case it's about combating harmful misinformation that overestimates risk, or recommends risky practices to mitigate an already very small risk. (31/33)

        20 replies 216 retweets 1,694 likes
        Show this thread
      32. Show replies

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