Reusable grocery bags may be a breeding ground for dangerous bacteria, yeast and mold, according to the first microbiological study in North America of earth-friendly shopping bags. The bottom line is that while such bags may be good for the planet, they are potentially very bad for your health. The new catch-phrase could soon be, “Paper, plastic or poison?”
Two independent labs were hired by the Canadian Plastics Industry Association to study the bags, and found that 64 percent of them harbored some level of bacteria. Yeast or mold was found in 40 percent of the bags, and some bags even had detectable levels of fecal intestinal bacteria.
“The main risk is food poisoning,” said Dr. Richard Summerbell, research director at Toronto’s Sporometrics, who was commissioned to evaluate the findings of the study. “But other significant risks include skin infections such as bacterial boils, allergic reactions, triggering of asthma attacks, and ear infections.”
Summerbell described the problem as being similar to the problem of kitchen cutting boards transferring germs, and added that the more waterproof a shopping bag is, as in the case of plastic-weave bags, the more likely it is to harbor pathogens. He said, “The main actual hazard involved is if there’s a little bit of spillage in there from some meat or some eggs, then food-poisoning organisms could be transferred over to other food.”
What should people do to stay safe? Besides the obvious practice of washing reusable bags regularly with hot water and bleach, one suggestion is to consider using throw-away plastic bags for meat products. Another important piece of advice is to avoid using grocery shopping bags for other purposes, such as carrying gym shoes and diapers.
While airing out the bags helps, unless they’re washed there is always the possibility of contamination if the same bags are used on consecutive trips, and always the possibility of grocery checkers unwittingly transferring contaminants on their hands from someone else’s bags to your bags.
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