Reusable Grocery Bags: Shocking Scary New Study!

When using a reusable grocery bag made from cloth or plastic, the last thing you think of is it harming you in any way. Everyone seems so proud of themselves for reusing these bags instead of taking the kind that you use once and throw away; contributing to the billions of plastic bags sent to landfills every year. However, what most people don't know is how many pathogens these bags are carrying.

In a shocking new study conducted by the University of Arizona and Loma Linda University in California, it was found that 12% of re-useable bags contained Escherichia coli (E.Coli)!!! Even more disturbing, is that when meat juices were added to the bags and stored in the trunks of cars for two hours, there was a two-fold increase in the number of bacteria, indicating the potential for bacteria growth in these bags! The purpose of this study was to assess the potential for cross-contamination of food products from reusable bags used to carry groceries.

Think about it, when you buy chicken you have a routine of cleaning your hands before and after handling it, followed by washing the surrounding kitchen counter. Did you ever think of washing the reusable bag? Most people don't because lets face it, we are so used to using plastic bags that you just throw out after putting the groceries away. What we fail to think of is the cereal box that was also put in the grocery bag which could have punctured the plastic wrap surrounding the chicken. If this did occur it could result in chicken juice leaking into the bag and thus possible salmonella contamination.

I have also noticed that people tend to reuse their petroleum plastic bags (the kind that you are supposed to throw away) to their carry lunches to school or work. Remember that bacteria aren’t picky and if that bag had been carrying raw meat, there’s always the potential of pathogenic bacteria being present, it doesn’t take much.  

When researchers from the University of Arizona and Loma Linda University took random reusable grocery bags from consumers as they entered the grocery stores in California and Arizona, what they found was disturbing. Indeed, a large number of bacteria were found in almost all of the bags and coliform bacterial was found in HALF. Even more interesting was that when the researchers interviewed customers, it was found that reusable bags are seldom if ever washed and often used for multiple purposes. It is also important to note that no bacteria were found in store-bought non-reusable petroleum plastic bags.

So what now? Simple, just clean your reusable grocery bags. In fact, the researchers in the study mentioned said that hand or machine washing, reduced the numbers of bacteria in reusable bags by 99.9 percent.

References

[1]  Gerba, C.P., Williams, D., Sinclair, R.G. (2010) "Assessment of the Potential for Cross Contamination of Food Products by Reusable Shopping Bags" University of Arizona (Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Science) and Loma Linda University (School of Public Health).