Comments on: Reusable grocery bags carry E. coli

By: Tami

Tami — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 14:32:45 +0000

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.

By: Debbie Poole

Debbie Poole — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 03:45:18 +0000

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.

By: Jane Rivers

Jane Rivers — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 20:28:53 +0000

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.

By: Chris Jones

Chris Jones — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 20:25:14 +0000

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.

By: George Hawkins

George Hawkins — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 20:03:25 +0000

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!

By: Me

Me — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 05:07:24 +0000

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.

By: Nenah Sylver, PhD

Nenah Sylver, PhD — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 15:34:25 +0000

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.

By: Richard G. Combs

Richard G. Combs — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 06:23:33 +0000

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?

By: John

John — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 03:49:42 +0000

I actually believe what I read as a local tv station was testing bags an reporting the same results last year

http://cbs4.com/local/green.grocery.bags.2.1104679.html

By: James Youngman

James Youngman — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 19:49:51 +0000

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.