Health & Medicine - Posted by Jennifer Fitzenberger-Arizona on Friday, June 25, 2010 10:02 - 13 Comments 
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Reusable grocery bags carry E. coli
A full 97 percent of those interviewed for the study never washed or bleached their reusable bags, says study coauthor Charles Gerba, noting that thorough washing kills nearly all bacteria that accumulate in reusable bags. Most of the bags tested were made of woven polypropylene. New reusable bags and plastic bags were tested; none contained any contamination. (Credit: iStockphoto)
U. ARIZONA (US)—They’re good for the environment, but reusable grocery bags can be a breeding ground for dangerous food-borne bacteria and pose a serious risk to public health, according to a new report.
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The text of this article by Futurity is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License.
Researchers randomly tested bags carried by shoppers in Tucson, Los Angeles, and San Francisco and found bacteria levels significant enough to cause a wide range of serious health problems and even death.
They are a particular danger for young children, who are especially vulnerable to food-borne illnesses, says Charles Gerba, a University of Arizona professor and coauthor of the study.
The study also found consumers were almost completely unaware of the need to regularly wash their bags.
“Our findings suggest a serious threat to public health, especially from coliform bacteria including E. coli, which were detected in half of the bags sampled,” says Gerba. “Furthermore, consumers are alarmingly unaware of these risks and the critical need to sanitize their bags on a weekly basis.”
A full 97 percent of those interviewed never washed or bleached their reusable bags, adds Gerba, noting that thorough washing kills nearly all bacteria that accumulate in reusable bags. Most of the bags tested were made of woven polypropylene. New reusable bags and plastic bags were tested; none contained any contamination.
The report comes at a time when some members of the California Legislature, through Assembly Bill 1998, are seeking to promote increased consumer use of reusable bags by banning plastic bags from California stores.
“If this is the direction California wants to go, our policymakers should be prepared to address the ramifications for public health,” says coauthor Ryan Sinclair, a professor at Loma Linda University’s School of Public Health.
The report noted that “a sudden or significant increase in use of reusable bags without a major public education campaign on how to reduce cross contamination would create the risk of significant adverse public health impact.”
Geographic factors also play a role, says Sinclair, who noted that contamination rates appeared to be higher in Los Angeles than in the two other locations—a phenomenon likely due to that region’s weather being more conducive to growth of bacteria in reusable bags.
The report offered the following policy recommendations for lawmakers, as well as tips for consumers who use reusable grocery bags:
- States should consider requiring printed instructions on reusable bags indicating they need to cleaned or bleached between uses.
- State and local governments should invest in a public education campaign to alert the public about risk and prevention.
- When using reusable bags, consumers should be careful to separate raw foods from other food products.
- Consumers should not use reusable food bags for other purposes such as carrying books or gym clothes.
- Consumers should not store meat or produce in the trunks of their cars because the higher temperature promotes growth of bacteria, which can contaminate reusable bags.
“As scientists, our focus was not on the relative merits of paper, plastic, or reusable grocery bags,” Gerba says. “Our intent was purely to provide relevant data to better inform consumers and lawmakers about the public health dimensions that could arise from increased use of reusable bags. With this knowledge, people will be in a better position to protect their health and that of their children.”
The American Chemistry Council underwrote the research project, which was conducted independently of the organization.
More news from the University of Arizona: http://uanews.org/
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13 Comments
Cathy Weselby
Bill Bleam
Cathy’s Weselby’s concern is legitimate; however, the chemical manufacturing industries represented by the American Chemistry Council also are involved in the production of the polypropylene raw material for the reusable grocery bags — and the detergent that consumers need to use to wash the bags, and the bleach consumers could/should use to sanitize the bags. Would all this be an economic “wash”? (no pun intended)
Would you rather they hadn’t done the study and published the results, leaving consumers ignorant and possibly having loved ones become ill, and perhaps die, due to the e. coli bacteria?
James Youngman
Who eats raw food out of a shopping bag without washing it anyway? To be even remotely convincing a study would need to show that re-usable bag users actually have an increased risk of contracting a disease as a result of the use of these bags. Otherwise this is pointless. All everyday surfaces contain bacteria capable of causing infections.
John
I actually believe what I read as a local tv station was testing bags an reporting the same results last year
Re Cathy Weselby’s argument: I use those “free” plastic bags from the grocery store for my trash, to line wastebaskets, etc. I don’t think I’m the only one. If I’m forced to stop using them, I’ll have to start buying plastic bags for those purposes. How does that benefit the environment? Or anyone, for that matter, except the makers of those much-higher-margin bags I’ll have to buy?
What is put INTO the bags was never discussed. Doesn’t that make a difference? Of course it does! Conventionally grown, factory farmed produce has a much larger chance of being contaminated by E. coli than organically grown produce. Since not everything was taken into account in this SURVEY–it is NOT a valid scientific “study”–this is hardly conclusive. I’m not worried.
Me
What baloney!!! This is complete rubbish. This must be something plastic bag manufacturers concocted. How about grocery carts, the store shelves, the check out counter/belt, the food itself and packaging where the “supposed” transfer is coming from? You contact all those things before or more than the bags. I don’t eat out if the bags and I cook and/or wash my food. People have used cloth bags for years, this is nonsense.
George Hawkins
What are we coming to? I wear a jacket w/o washing it. I sit in my car w/o disinfecting the seats.
There is some merit to some cleaning of our bags. Some merit!
Better yet, clean the handles of the carts we re-use in the stores before handling!
Some markets provide cleaning cloths at entrance to use on the carts!
I would imagine that some of the “germ cultivating” properties of the re-useable bags could be mitigated by mixing in fibers with anti-microbal properties ala “microban” or better yet, Purple Loosestrife – rope makers used to weave Loosestrife fibers into their ropes to prevent rotting. I wonder if a similar tact would work with shopping bags…It would be awfully depressing if we had to go back to a “consume and dispose” model just because we weren’t creative enough to find a healthy way to continue using re-useable bags.
Jane Rivers
Well, I am usually a doubter, but I don’t doubt this. I just got finished taking antibiotics for e-coli, and I never have had it and knew my personal habits should not have caused it. COINCIDENTALLY (?) I have becomes a full-time user recently of reusable bags and have only washed them whenever they seemed dirty. The environment will just have to be harmed from using the grocery store bags for raw meat. These bags can’t hold up to washing every week.. Was trying to do the right thing, but I have a compromised immune system as it is, and it may be back to that environment-wrecking plastic.
I agree with Richard Combs concerning the multiple uses of the free plastic bags. I also use them for my trash, to line wastebaskets, etc. I know of a website that will be coming out with a new reusable bag that is lined on the inside with silver ions which shoot out and kill the germs. I plan on trying one as soon as they become available. Was told would be on the site in a few weeks. Sounds alot safer then the non-washable reusable bags.
Tami
I work at a grocery store. The way people want everything put into the bags all together doesn’t surprise me that the bags are contaminated. Milk and raw meats need to be in a plastic bag before going into a bag much less into a bag with fruits & vegetables, or the bags need to be washed each time their used.
No, the bags don’t hold up to regular washing.
If you really want to be “environmental” about it, buy bags that are made of recycled cotton or the like. The “reusable” bags are still made out of plastic and only last a year or so, according to manufacturers.
The plastic grocery bags are annoying at times, don’t always hold up, and do blow away in the wind at times, but they are recyclable and almost all grocery stores have a box outside to deposit them into.
Some stores sell bags that are more plastic in nature than “fabric” and are made with microban. They’re more easily wiped out and kept clean, much sturdier, and work better.
Oh, side note, plastic comes from a by product of making gas out of oil, so you’re not actually helping “save gas” by not buying plastic.
I’m sure many will critique my post here, but I won’t be checking it, so it doesn’t matter to me.
Very good blog you have here but I was curious about if you knew of any discussion boards
that cover the same topics discussed here? I’d really like to be a part of group where I can get feedback from other experienced individuals that share the same interest. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. Kudos!
Consider the source of the “research”: the American Chemistry Council. They must be worried that the production of plastic bags will sharply decrease if this bill passes. Just a thought.