Coronavirus virus fears causing panic buying

[Baxenden Bank]

Morrisons in MK: No rice, pasta, soap or bog roll. Luckily they did have black pudding! I had the last packet!

Selfish Hoarder!

 

[Cowley]

Selfish Hoarder!

That was all he left with...

 

[SHD]

Shopping at my Oriental deli tonight, I figured that the best possible survival food is a combination of date paste, halva, and tahini. No refrigeration needed. No heating needed. No mess with cooking. Shelf life longer than a human existence. Extraordinarily efficient calorie storage per unit of volume.

Oh, another tip to those stocking up on pasta - don’t forget to stock up on salt, too, otherwise how will you cook them!?

 

[C J Snarzell]

I appreciate it is not the same but I do think there are similar elements here to the petrol dispute of 2000 when people were suddenly panic buying fuel, filling their tanks and bringing forecourts & roads to a standstill.

Again another similarity I have seen is the cheeky so-and-sos putting the price of toilet rolls and hand sanitisers up in their shops like the sharks who ran some of those filling stations 20 years ago!

CJ

 

[Busaholic]

Panorama, 1957 I think.

Broadcast on April 1st, the report was presented by Richard Dimbleby, father of David and Jonathan, seemingly from the Italian pasta orchards!

 

[Islineclear3_1]

So with a prospective shortage of staples, perhaps this is a good time to get back into intermittent fasting and lose a few pounds...

 

[Bletchleyite]

Just been to the local big Sainsbury’s- huge gaps on the shelves!
All pasta gone, even the most obscure types, almost all bogroll and all tissues.
Barely anything canned left. All rice pudding and custard!
Huge gap on the ketchup shelf too!
Looked like the women’s sanitary stuff had been gutted too.

Went to the Co-op again for a few bits and the only thing that had been cleared out was paracetamol - loads of other stuff. Are panic buyers too thick to go to their local shop?

 

[Bletchleyite]

So with a prospective shortage of staples, perhaps this is a good time to get back into intermittent fasting and lose a few pounds...

Dunno, but if people are self-quarantining unless they copy that Chinese bloke and run a half marathon round their house they are going to be a lot less active than usual, so to avoid ending up piling weight on reducing portion sizes would be sensible.

And if you *actually get* it you might not be hungry anyway. I've only had the flu twice, and in the more recent case I lost half a stone because I didn't want to eat for a week. Which if you've ever met me is not something that poses a particular threat, shall we say.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Oh, another tip to those stocking up on pasta - don’t forget to stock up on salt, too, otherwise how will you cook them!?

I never put salt in pasta, or indeed anything else at all other than on chips. Pasta tastes of the sauce anyway, there is really no need to salt it.

 

[SHD]

I never put salt in pasta, or indeed anything else at all other than on chips. Pasta tastes of the sauce anyway, there is really no need to salt it.

But how do you cook your pasta!?

 

[Bletchleyite]

But how do you cook your pasta!?

Stick it in a pan of boiling water and boil it until it's done. How do you cook yours?

 

[SHD]

Stick it in a pan of boiling water and boil it until it's done. How do you cook yours?

Well pretty much the same except for a major difference: ~10 g/L of salt in the water. As Italians do, and as it should be done, really!

And do try high quality pasta (De Cecco, Rummo, Garofalo...) - it does not need sauce to have a delicious taste. Add a drop of olive oil and enjoy!

 

[trainophile]

The only thing that I have consistently failed to find is hand sanitiser gel. Does anyone know if it is still being delivered to shops? If so, which ones?

It's annoying because the media keeps harping on about using it if you don't have access to soap and water (and we rail travellers will very often be in this position), yet they don't seem to recognise that it isn't actually available. I have the dregs of one of those pocket size bottles left, then I'm going to be stuck unless I pay silly money on eBay.

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

The only thing that I have consistently failed to find is hand sanitiser gel. Does anyone know if it is still being delivered to shops? If so, which ones?

It's annoying because the media keeps harping on about using it if you don't have access to soap and water (and we rail travellers will very often be in this position), yet they don't seem to recognise that it isn't actually available. I have the dregs of one of those pocket size bottles left, then I'm going to be stuck unless I pay silly money on eBay.

It's a good question. While reading a US baseball forum today I came across a comment that a major retailer has warned its customers that it will not receive further deliveries of hand sanitiser for 5 to 6 weeks! I don't know if such a situation applies to manufacturers over here but it does raise a potentially serious issue.

But what bothers me more is the thought that many people currently panic buying hand sanitiser won't actually make proper use of it and much of it will remain forgotten in the bottom of backpacks, handbags, etc.

 

[SHD]

The only thing that I have consistently failed to find is hand sanitiser gel. Does anyone know if it is still being delivered to shops? If so, which ones?

It's annoying because the media keeps harping on about using it if you don't have access to soap and water (and we rail travellers will very often be in this position), yet they don't seem to recognise that it isn't actually available. I have the dregs of one of those pocket size bottles left, then I'm going to be stuck unless I pay silly money on eBay.

It is quite easy to make your own - buy ethanol from B&Q or a chemist, glycerin from a chemist, and mix in suitable proportions (the WHO has issued a recipe for the proportions. It also contains hydrogen peroxide but you can do without this chemical which is dangerous to handle and not essential to provide a disinfectant effect).

And if you really cannot find these ingredients, a 3/4 - 1/4 mix of the cheapest Aldi vodka and aloe Vera gel will do.

 

[causton]

The only thing that I have consistently failed to find is hand sanitiser gel. Does anyone know if it is still being delivered to shops? If so, which ones?

It's annoying because the media keeps harping on about using it if you don't have access to soap and water (and we rail travellers will very often be in this position), yet they don't seem to recognise that it isn't actually available. I have the dregs of one of those pocket size bottles left, then I'm going to be stuck unless I pay silly money on eBay.

It is true. I've spent £15 for a massive bottle of one from a car cleaning supplies site, of all places...

Went to the Co-op again for a few bits and the only thing that had been cleared out was paracetamol - loads of other stuff. Are panic buyers too thick to go to their local shop?

Same at the convenience store in Fenny, lots of soap and toilet roll gone. Except the shopkeeper shouted at someone for entering with a suitcase "GO AWAY, YOU HAVE CORONA" to which the person replied "I've come from Manchester you melt, stop f***ing around"

 

[Tom B]

I appreciate it is not the same but I do think there are similar elements here to the petrol dispute of 2000 when people were suddenly panic buying fuel, filling their tanks and bringing forecourts & roads to a standstill.

Again another similarity I have seen is the cheeky so-and-sos putting the price of toilet rolls and hand sanitisers up in their shops like the sharks who ran some of those filling stations 20 years ago!

CJ

And people putting Four Star - which remained in plentiful supply - in the tanks of cars with cats, with predictable results.

 

[Andrew S]

Oh, another tip to those stocking up on pasta - don’t forget to stock up on salt, too, otherwise how will you cook them!?

In water. It doesn't need salt. In fact I haven't bought salt in years. I don't need it for anything.

 

[3rd rail land]

In water. It doesn't need salt. In fact I haven't bought salt in years. I don't need it for anything.

I know a lot of recipes call for salt to be added to the boiling water that is used to cook the pasta. I have cooked pasta with and without salt in the water and was unable to identify any difference in taste so I don't bother adding salt.

 

[Busaholic]

I know a lot of recipes call for salt to be added to the boiling water that is used to cook the pasta. I have cooked pasta with and without salt in the water and was unable to identify any difference in taste so I don't bother adding salt.

Only time we ever put salt in the water for cooking = pasta. Can always tell if forget to add it.

 

[tsr]

Went to a Very Big Tesco in a Town in the South about 2230 tonight. Busiest I’ve seen it at that hour, though it has much shift worker custom, so could be fluke.

A whole HUGE aisle is now given over to theoretical bog roll (or lack thereof), of which perhaps 5% was actually still there. No cleaning products really left, apart from some cleaning cloths (suggesting every drain in the country will soon be blocked with discarded disposable wipes) and the odd bit of wood polish.

There was also a general dearth of all health products of any relevance to sniffles, virtually no soap and not much by way of snack food left.

Meanwhile, Easter eggs are still in plentiful supply...

 

[jon0844]

Our 24 hour Tesco apparently closed overnight to allow staff to restock properly, with the aim of opening again this morning at 0500. The police were there to get people to leave.

Are people still panic buying, and on a Friday evening? Will they be queuing for when it opens again in 10 minutes?!

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

So with a prospective shortage of staples, perhaps this is a good time to get back into intermittent fasting and lose a few pounds...

I still have a barely-used box of Rexel 56 staples.

 

[RichT54]

I still have a barely-used box of Rexel 56 staples.

 

[Strat-tastic]

Adding salt to boiling water raises the temperature at which it boils and cooks the food quicker.

 

[krus_aragon]

So with a prospective shortage of staples, perhaps this is a good time to get back into intermittent fasting and lose a few pounds...

Oh dear, have the hoarders started clearing out the stationers now?

 

[DelayRepay]

Morrisons in MK: No rice, pasta, soap or bog roll. Luckily they did have black pudding! I had the last packet!

You swine - I wanted that for my breakfast fry up. If you still have it, I will swap a black pudding slice for a toilet roll (I ordered a huge box before Brexit as someone told me there might be a shortage!)

I did my shop in Sainsburys MK yesterday evening. Virtually no soap, loo roll or cleaning products, and most of the shelves looking emptier than normal.

 

[Bletchleyite]

You swine - I wanted that for my breakfast fry up. If you still have it, I will swap a black pudding slice for a toilet roll (I ordered a huge box before Brexit as someone told me there might be a shortage!)

I did my shop in Sainsburys MK yesterday evening. Virtually no soap, loo roll or cleaning products, and most of the shelves looking emptier than normal.

Try the various small Co-ops such as Emerson Valley or the two West Bletchley ones. People aren't hitting them for panic buying and most items are still in stock.

 

[delt1c]

It is quite easy to make your own - buy ethanol from B&Q or a chemist, glycerin from a chemist, and mix in suitable proportions (the WHO has issued a recipe for the proportions. It also contains hydrogen peroxide but you can do without this chemical which is dangerous to handle and not essential to provide a disinfectant effect).

And if you really cannot find these ingredients, a 3/4 - 1/4 mix of the cheapest Aldi vodka and aloe Vera gel will do.

What a waste of good vodka,

 

[zuriblue]

I still have a barely-used box of Rexel 56 staples.

B’dum tish!