Yeah, about that....
What’s in your shopping bag? Bacteria
Consider: “Reusable” doesn’t mean “self-cleaning.”
Researchers at the University of Arizona and Loma Linda University queried shoppers headed into grocery stores in California and Arizona, asking them if they wash those reusable bags.
The researchers were likely met with a lot of blank looks. Most shoppers — 97%, in fact — reported that they do not regularly, if ever, wash the bags.
Further, three-fourths acknowledged that they don’t use separate bags for meats and for vegetables, and about a third said they used the bags for, well, all sorts of things (storing snacks, toting books). You can see where this is going.
The researchers tested 84 of the bags for bacteria. They found whopping amounts in all but one bag, and coliform bacteria (suggesting raw-meat or uncooked-food contamination) in half. And yes, the much-feared E. coli was among them — in 12% of the bags.
Here’s the full report, (yes it’s a long title)Assessment of the Potential for Cross Contamination of Food Products by Reusable Shopping Bags.
For more on food-borne illness check out the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Probably should wash our shoes before we enter our front door....and the interior of our car...and......
I read once where shopping carts are the filthiest thing in the store. The handles are covered in all sorts of horrible germs, especially those with the fold out child seats, where kids sit in their diapers.
No idea if this is an urban legend or not, but it does make sense.