Covid and condiments

Holly436
Level 2
Lake Oswego, OR

Covid and condiments

I had a renter toss all the house’s refrigerated condiments “due to covid.” I have rented out over 400 days prior and had no one had issues with the UNEXPired Mayo, ketchup , mustards, salad dressings and jams.  She did not have problems with spices and olive oils??? Are you all providing condiments? Our house is located on a resort with grocery shopping 15 minutes away and it seems silly for people who fly in must buy all condiments?

15 Replies 15
Pat271
Level 10
Greenville, SC

Yep, Covid guidelines in my area say not to provide unopened condiments, so we got rid of ours. I’m hoping they change those guidelines soon, now that the CDC has deemed that the primary transmission mechanism of Covid is person-to-person, not via objects. I enjoy providing condiments for my guests.

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Holly436  I would not use opened containers of condiments if I were a guest, even without the COVID issue. And it would kind if gross me out to find them in the fridge.  You have no idea whther someone has stuck a knife in the jam jar, licked off it, and stuck it in again.

 

What you could do is get small glass containers, fill them full for each booking, sterlize the outsides of the jars and let guests know that they have not been used by previous guests.

@Sarah977 we had a house guest once who in some kind of sleep-eating event stood in front of our fridge eating mayonnaise out of the jar with his finger. I only knew because I happened to still be up and in the other room. Have never looked at a jar of mayo the same way since.

@Lisa723  I used to catch my kids doing that with peanut butter or Nutella, but they weren't sleepwalking 🙂

 

There used to be some advertising slogan, I can't remember what company- "Untouched by human hands". ( My brother and I used to visualize a team of chimpanzees in the factory)

 

I worked in the fruit picking and packing industry- if people knew how many unwashed hands had touched their piece of fruit, they'd never bite into an apple again without washing it in soap and water.

Jenny838
Level 5
Arizona, United States

 @Holly436  I have a small metal box with several individual packets (like fast food packets) of mayo, mustard, ketchup, Tabasco sauce, and taco sauce. I sanitize them between each guest. I have guests at the moment, so I apologize I can’t attach a picture. The condiments don’t get used often, but guests appreciate it when they’re needed. 

Lisa723
Level 10
Quilcene, WA

@Holly436 Our homes' refrigerators are emptied and cleaned for every turnover. When I rent a place I am nothing but annoyed finding opened food containers in the refrigerator or cupboards. I would never use them and they take up kitchen space.

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Holly436  @Pat271 @Jenny838  @Lisa723 @Sarah977 

 

In reality, in many jurisdictions COVID-19 has nothing to do with it.....it is illegal to provide unsealed foodstuffs that have been previously handled, to a paying guest.

In my state I can prepare a meal for guests, I can provide opened portions of perishable foods to friends who may wish to stay overnight but, local health laws prohibit me from providing anything that does not come in a sealed manufacturers container to a paying guest, with the exception of some fruits, nuts and eggs.

 

I can provide a vacuum sealed pack of 5-6 bacon rashers, but I a not allowed to pull 5-6 out of a 2 Kg pack, wrap them in plastic wrap and put them in the guest fridge! The law says I have opened them, handled them and destroyed the integrity of them. The only way around this for me is to obtain a government health compliance and food handling certificate....and that is prohibitive. 

 

I do provide a lot of condiments for my guests most of which I am able to do by negotiating deals with local suppliers......

IMG20180317111535.jpg

 

 The only area where I might push the choke a bit is, I do supply 4-5 slices of bread for toasting which I handle with plastic gloves and provide in a ziplock bag. My local council has approved this method for the supply of bread. 

 

One has to be extremely careful with the supply of condiments to paying guests! One only has to complain of an upset tummy after a night out or a slight case of food poisoning and my facility becomes suspect and could be shut down in a heartbeat. We simply have to comply with the law and really Covid has nothing to do with it......we should be adopting the same standard, Covid or not!

 

I agree with @Sarah977, if I went into a listing and was expected to use butter that was left over from a previous stay, opened milk, juice or anything that a previous guest (or the host)  may have handled and destroyed the original manufacturers integrity, I would refuse to touch it and I would mention to the host they were skating on thin ice! 

 

Cheers.........Rob 

Pat271
Level 10
Greenville, SC

Do you have salt & pepper shakers, spices, teabags, coffee, and other dry condiments?  I used to provide these before Covid. Never refrigerated condiments. Covid really did require a policy change even for dry condiments, at least in Hawaii. The cupboards and refrigerator are currently bare. 🙂

Holly436
Level 2
Lake Oswego, OR

Thanks so much for all the helpful information.  The cleaners currently toss all food items from the refrigerator, freezer and pantry and now will include all spices, teas, oils and condiments.  I wonder if each state requirements are different; the recommendations for each turn over from Airbnb state to top off condiments??  I just returned from a Airbnb cottage with every dry and refrigerated condiment I could think of and was worried I was not not supply enough!  I feel so blessed to have this forum for support and advice.  I am thinking I will reach out to all guests, especially those who have come every summer for a week, and explain this change in our house rules. take care

Deidre1
Level 4
Nashville, TN

I leave condiments, spices, coffee, etc in my apts. If a guest doesn't want to use them "due to covid" whatever that means, then the guest doesn't have to use them. I also leave unopened food that the last guests left-- frozen pizzas and the like-- for the next guests to enjoy if they want. We recently had a rare snowstorm in Nashville and my late arrival guests were grateful food was available to them.

I think it is time to end this hygiene theatre and get back to hospitality & sound science.

I also think it is wasteful and not at all eco-friendly to toss perfectly good food out at every turnover and rely on single serve containers.

@Deidre1   “Hygiene theatre” - LOL - love it!

 

 

@Deidre1 I agree with you about covid hygiene theater and single-serve containers, and I agree that it's a shame to waste food. But as a guest I wouldn't use leftover opened food, covid or not, and it annoys me to find it, or even food that isn't opened but is not to my taste, taking up space I need for my own groceries. If I have to to make space, I throw it out. (FWIW when we contemplated listing our places with one of the big management firms one of their rules was that absolutely no food could be left between guests due to the liability factor.)

 

@Holly436 of course one possibility is to ask incoming guests in advance what their preference on this is, and abide by it. But this would require tight coordination with your cleaners.

Wende2
Level 10
Church Creek, MD

Hi all.....I don't have anything that needs refrigeration.  I do have 2 different coffees, which just now dawned on me neither are de-caf, guess I should put that up there.  There's hot cocoa, several blends of tea and those single creamers.  Until things are back to more of normal normal I'll be leaving single size popcorn up there, I get those giant boxes with 3 favors, I'll be baking again when the time comes.  I use to have some other things up there but I was the one throwing those away, so I leave it up to the guest to bring things with them or stop on the way here. Once I put oranges and bananas for a guy that was here for the Triathlon, when they left he said gnats showed up, the girl had booked an extra day so I left them each a nice review.  The girl gave me 3* for cleanliness, had to be the gnats, never thought to put those in the fridge.

What jerks that they left a three star review