Study finds reusable grocery bags can harbor dangerous bacteria
Published: Friday, June 25, 2010, 4:00 AM
Scott Shaw, The Plain Dealer
More and more shoppers are buying reusable bags, but be sure to wash them every week or so to avoid possible food contamination.
Those reusable, fabric shopping bags may be kind to the environment, but they may not be good for your family’s health — if you don’t wash them.
A new study, in which researchers randomly tested 84 reusable grocery bags carried by shoppers in Tucson, Los Angeles and San Francisco, found that more than half were contaminated with food-borne bacteria.
Twelve percent was E. coli, a bacteria that can cause food poisoning. While abdominal cramps and diarrhea are most common, serious — sometimes life-threatening — complications can develop, especially among young people and older adults.
Ninety-seven percent of the shoppers in the study said they do not wash their bags, nearly all of which were made of woven polypropolene.
“If you’re going to use these bags, you need to take care of them,” the study’s co-author, Charles Gerba, said Thursday. “The last thing you want to do is grow salmonella in your sack.”
The main concern, said Gerba, a microbiologist and professor at University of Arizona, is cross-contamination: A package of meat leaks juice in a bag. The bag is unpacked, then placed back in the hot car trunk until next week’s shopping trip, when the bag is filled with vegetables. By then a horde of bacteria may line the inside of the bag and transfer to the vegetables or your hands and spread elsewhere.
“It’s a gamble,” Gerba said.
To avoid food-borne illness from reusable grocery bags, consider these recommendations from the Cuyahoga County Health Department:
- Buy bags you can wash: polypropolene, cloth or canvas. Wash them once a week or so.
- Have more than one bag and label on the outside a designation for meat, vegetables or boxed/canned/packaged goods.
- Double-wrap meats at the store and never place them in bags with ready-to-eat food.
- Bring foods home immediately and store them right away. Then wash your hands.
- Wash vegetables thoroughly before eating or preparing.
- Cook foods thoroughly, especially meat.
- Clean and disinfect counters and other surfaces before, during and after preparing food.
Study recommendations:
- States should consider requiring printed instructions on reusable bags indicating they need to be cleaned or bleached between uses.
- State and local governments should invest in a public education campaign to alert the public about the risk of bags being contaminated and how to prevent it.
- Consumers should avoid reusable food bags for other purposes, such as carrying books or gym clothes.
- Do not leave perishable foods in car trunks, as higher temperatures promote bacteria growth in the bags.
For more information: Foodsafety.gov
— Kaye Spector