Slog
News & ArtsTuesday, December 6, 2011
Enviro Bacteria in Your Reusable Shopping Bag
Posted by Charles Mudede on Tue, Dec 6, 2011 at 11:34 AM
The researchers collected reusable shopping bags from shoppers entering grocery stores in Arizona and California, and they found that A) “reusable bags are seldom if ever washed and often used for multiple purposes” and B) “Large numbers of bacteria were found in almost all bags.”Wowsers, I thought. We’re talking e. coli. We’re talking coliform. We’re talking, as the researchers put it, “several opportunistic pathogens.”
I told you this was important. Your bags can cross-contaminate your food. They are menacing vessels of grossness!
Before you start thinking about what's in that reusable bag, the update...
Helpful readers have pointed out potential flaws in this study, including its funding, which came in part from the American Chemistry Council. The council represents the plastics industry, though the group also says at the bottom of this story that its members supply products for the reusable bags.
This war is about information.
2
If you're using canvas, you can toss them in the wash once in a while. If you're using the plastic ones, you can lysol them.
Meat should still be bagged in plastic - like the little bags they offer in the meat department. A shopping bag used for meat should only ever be used for meat. Your produce should only go into a bag set aside for produce.
Meat should still be bagged in plastic - like the little bags they offer in the meat department. A shopping bag used for meat should only ever be used for meat. Your produce should only go into a bag set aside for produce.
4
Imagine if there were hygienic shopping bags issued at the point if purchase. Oh yeah, there are, at least until they're outlawed.
5
Grocery stores are gnarly dirty places. Its not because workers are lazy (some are), they're just insanely busy. If that bothers you, wash everything once you get it home. Everything you bring home will have bacteria one it, regardless of your preferred shopping vessel.
@2 Good pointers.
@2 Good pointers.
6
Right, right. Inconvenient data as propaganda. Haven't heard that excuse since climate change.
It's not exactly a stretch of common sense that these bags aren't terribly hygienic. Alas, how about this for a solution: run 'em through the washing machine every once in a while.
It's not exactly a stretch of common sense that these bags aren't terribly hygienic. Alas, how about this for a solution: run 'em through the washing machine every once in a while.
7
@4 veggie based compostable "plastic" bags work just as well.
And then the bugs in the compost can eat them.
And then the bugs in the compost can eat them.
8
There is bacteria on everything. The cashier and bagger have tons on their hands. Handling money is a biggie. I can just imagine what's on hand rails in buses, buttons on elevators, ATM machines. Let's face it, we need to wash our hands and reusable bags.
11
Why stop here when you can force medical workers to use cloth examination gloves and hope they wash them after each use.
Latex gloves are killing dozens of whales each year ... please wont someone think of the whales!?
Latex gloves are killing dozens of whales each year ... please wont someone think of the whales!?
12
@7 I doubt the "veggie plastic" bags will comply with the ordinances banning plastic bags. I am not aware of any exceptions for compostable polymers. I believe in many jurisdictions paper is ok if the store charges the customer for each bag.
14
@8 Yes. If your really worried about the bacteria around just kill yourself now.
From good old wikipedia: There are typically 40 million bacterial cells in a gram of soil and a million bacterial cells in a millilitre of fresh water; in all, there are approximately five nonillion (5×1030) bacteria on Earth,[3] forming a biomass that exceeds that of all plants and animals."
From good old wikipedia: There are typically 40 million bacterial cells in a gram of soil and a million bacterial cells in a millilitre of fresh water; in all, there are approximately five nonillion (5×1030) bacteria on Earth,[3] forming a biomass that exceeds that of all plants and animals."
15
It isn't like plastic grocery bags are pristine sanitary vessels either. Everything in the store is contaminated by the stock boy, all the customers fondling everything, the cashier, the bagger. Then they toss your meat and your vegetables into the same plastic bag, and everything gets cross-contaminated anyway.
Washing your reusable bag is probably a good idea, but don't delude yourself into thinking that a new plastic bag will magically make all your food sanitized.
Washing your reusable bag is probably a good idea, but don't delude yourself into thinking that a new plastic bag will magically make all your food sanitized.
16
@15 Nobody has been fondling the insides of the plastic grocery bags at my store. I have no doubt they are about the cleanest things in the store. I also don't lit them put meat in with anything that doesn't get cooked.
17
@1, if you use it to store your groceries, then your backpack is, essentially, a reusable shopping bag.
But I'm with the people who think this is no big deal. Lots of bacteria in the world, yet mostly we get through our days without getting ill. If I had a compromised immune system, on the other hand, I'd probably be washing my bags more. And definitely washing my produce more.
But I'm with the people who think this is no big deal. Lots of bacteria in the world, yet mostly we get through our days without getting ill. If I had a compromised immune system, on the other hand, I'd probably be washing my bags more. And definitely washing my produce more.
18
@11 Hospitals could go gloveless. First you sanitize your hands with one of those awesome UV sanitizers, then while cutting into the patient you use tons of iodine. They already use iodine to such levels the gloves are probably just preventing your hands from getting stained.
But to me, the bag ban is more about preventing people from wasting resources. If your going to be wasteful at least pay for it.
Reducing the amount of plastic we go through is pretty gross once you start thinking about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
But to me, the bag ban is more about preventing people from wasting resources. If your going to be wasteful at least pay for it.
Reducing the amount of plastic we go through is pretty gross once you start thinking about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
19
Never mind that our oceans are turning into plastic swamps as these bags break down into tiny bits that clog up the digestive systems of the fish, never mind that the plastics factories in China are spewing toxins into the air, or all the other crap that comes as a side effect of these bags.
22
I'm a microbiologist, and I'm always shocked at how fearful people are of bacteria. Bacteria is everywhere. If you put a piece of broccoli in a plastic bag, that bag has bacteria in. If it's organic broccoli, it likely has E. coli. E. coli is everywhere; it's in the pants you're wearing right now, and if it wasn't, there's something wrong with your gut. Even after you wash broccoli, there's still bacteria on it, it's just at a low threshold. I didn't buy the paper (Journals you have to buy at a university are fishy anyway (They're the ones a university thinks you don't ever need for real research)), but I wonder if it gave numbers of CFU's.
People need to get over being such germaphobes. Just wash your shit before you eat it. The solution to almost everything is dilution.
People need to get over being such germaphobes. Just wash your shit before you eat it. The solution to almost everything is dilution.
23
As someone who works at a grocery store, I would never think of tossing someone's "meat and produce in the same plastic bag" as a previous commenter suggested we often do. It's the customers, rather, who are so hell-bent on not using a plastic bag that they will refuse to protect their produce from their meat and insist that we put them all in the same reusable canvas bag. And then they never wash their bags. I have literally gagged a number of times when having to open someone's reusable bag, usually because of the smell. It isn't hard to toss your bag in the washer, or just bring separate bags for separate foods.
24
There is no more bacteria on these "average" reusable bags than your own backpack, purse or jacket. This is pandering to the germaphobia of modern Americans.
25
@11 "Hospitals could go gloveless. First you sanitize your hands with one of those awesome UV sanitizers, then while cutting into the patient you use tons of iodine"
Wouldnt work for gynecologists & proctologists.
Also, wouldnt it be easier to ban the dumping of garbage into the pacific ocean?
Wouldnt work for gynecologists & proctologists.
Also, wouldnt it be easier to ban the dumping of garbage into the pacific ocean?
26
Hmm let's see, the choice is between a world covered in plastic for 50thousand years, killing fish and sea life, clogging streams and looking ugly or dealing with bacteria that we've dealt with and lived with for millions of years. Hmmm ghee this is such a hard choice for us Americans because our lives are so so so hard...
27
@25. That's true. Plastic gloves are here to stay and they serve a purpose. Can't really say the same with bags because there is a less wasteful option.
As far as dumping into the ocean, I'm pretty sure there is a ban. I think the solution lies in reducing the output of waste.
As far as dumping into the ocean, I'm pretty sure there is a ban. I think the solution lies in reducing the output of waste.
28
@19, never mind that grocery bags make up an infinitesimal portion of the plastic that goes into the ocean, or that the millions of other sources of plastic will continue to go into that ocean unabated. Never mind all that. It's the APPEARANCE OF ACTION that matters, not actual action.
29
@2, I love you! As one of those ill-educated-in-science people I realize I can worry about germs in a bag somewhere as I sit blithely picking my nose. People like me need people like you to chime in as much as you can. Thank you.
31
@27 "Can't really say the same with bags because there is a less wasteful option."
Problem with paper bags is, the glue on the handle needs to be stronger. Had many of them break off during the 4 block walk to my apartment, so I had no choice but to go back to plastic bags. They also get re-used, but mostly for disposing of pet droppings. The rest are recycled.
I really dont understand what the BFD is all about? If we have whales dying from balls of plastic bags in their stomach, if its not coming from Washington State, then its unlikely a plastic ban would ever solve the problem. The fact that whales are being used as selling point (to ban plastic bags) tells me just how non-existent the problem really is.
Problem with paper bags is, the glue on the handle needs to be stronger. Had many of them break off during the 4 block walk to my apartment, so I had no choice but to go back to plastic bags. They also get re-used, but mostly for disposing of pet droppings. The rest are recycled.
I really dont understand what the BFD is all about? If we have whales dying from balls of plastic bags in their stomach, if its not coming from Washington State, then its unlikely a plastic ban would ever solve the problem. The fact that whales are being used as selling point (to ban plastic bags) tells me just how non-existent the problem really is.
32
By the way, about 90% of the cells in "your" body are actually bacteria using you as their host. Bacteria don't weigh as much as human cells, so it only amounts to a little over a kilogram, but still -- to a large extent you ARE bacteria, or a bacterial system.
33
Or you could just not eat meat and eliminate like 90% of your food poisoning risk.
@31- You are complaining about the choice between wasteful single use bag options. The idea is not to be wasteful. The order of operations is reduce, then reuse, then recycle.
So plastic bags aren't the biggest problem in the world. They're an easily fixable problem, why should we ignore it?
@31- You are complaining about the choice between wasteful single use bag options. The idea is not to be wasteful. The order of operations is reduce, then reuse, then recycle.
So plastic bags aren't the biggest problem in the world. They're an easily fixable problem, why should we ignore it?
34
@30 Awww! How sweet. Actually, I would bet it's the licking of her paws that is the real bacteria spreader. Cats walk all over the same places as squirrels and vermin. If she's exclusively an indoor cat and you leave your shoes on when you come in, it's you that spreads the bacteria. I would never wear my shoes in my home.
35
A lot of Sloggers have mentioned they recycle their plastic shopping bags. I can't speak for Seattle, but I don't know of any city in California where curbside recycling accepts them, and would be surprised if your service were any different.
If you meant you're taking them to a stores that accept plastic bags for recycling, well, good on ya'. If you're just throwing them in you recycling bins at home, well, don't do that (unless I'm wrong).
If you meant you're taking them to a stores that accept plastic bags for recycling, well, good on ya'. If you're just throwing them in you recycling bins at home, well, don't do that (unless I'm wrong).
36
Doug, they take plastic shopping bags here. You just have to have them bagged in one big bag, and no produce bags.
"Grocery/Shopping Bags
Reuse bags when possible. You can recycle by bundling all clean and empty grocery bags into one bag. Single bags must go into the garbage, as they tangle up the machinery at the recycling facility. Produce bags are not accepted for recycling."
http://www.seattle.gov/util/services/rec…
"Grocery/Shopping Bags
Reuse bags when possible. You can recycle by bundling all clean and empty grocery bags into one bag. Single bags must go into the garbage, as they tangle up the machinery at the recycling facility. Produce bags are not accepted for recycling."
http://www.seattle.gov/util/services/rec…
38
@31 put your paperbag into a reuseable one. Or just use the reusable one. Anyhow, the not fucking up the ocean is a lot bigger than save the whales. Fishing is a massive economic force.
40
@Fnarf, Where do you get this infinitesimal nonsense from? Infinitesimal compared to the volume of the ocean? The problem with plastic bags is that they inevitably end up in the waterways, then in the ocean where they kinda breakdown into less noticeable bits. These bits are tiny and get ingested by the fish where they stay in their digestive system preventing that fish from getting nutrients and being healthy enough for us to catch and eat it.
As far as other sources, that's like saying oh there's so many people who die every day why should I care if I kill a few on the way home?
As far as other sources, that's like saying oh there's so many people who die every day why should I care if I kill a few on the way home?
41
The war isn't about information - it's about education.
Plastic shopping bags are 100% recyclable. The unfortunate reality that too few of them are recycled is a function of public education, not inherent function and design of the bags (many of which are a hell of a lot more biodegradable than the paper variety).
Plastic shopping bags are 100% recyclable. The unfortunate reality that too few of them are recycled is a function of public education, not inherent function and design of the bags (many of which are a hell of a lot more biodegradable than the paper variety).
42
@35 I think it was roughly a year ago that the recycling in my city in California changed to accept plastic bags. It used to be a real hassle to get them recycled, but now we can include them with normal recycling. I don't know how many cities in California do so though. Also, since this was a reasonably recent change, you may want to double-check whether your city still will not accept them.
43
@41, They may be recyclable, but they aren't recycled in anywhere great enough numbers even in places that accept them and have been advocating it.
re: the biodegradable aspect of plastic bags, it's actually a bigger problem than if they were completely indestructable for a lot of sea life. Those "biodegradable" bags photo degrade into tiny bits quite quickly so you don't see a big old bag in the water, but those little bits get ingested by the sea life and clog up their digestive system making it difficult for them to get real nutrients out of their food. Picture an animal starving to death while eating.
The other thing about the "biodegradable" bags is that they cost more and so very very few stores would use them. Meanwhile people like you would believe that since such a bag exists somewhere that all the bags you're getting everyday are all that kind of "biodegradable" bag.
re: the biodegradable aspect of plastic bags, it's actually a bigger problem than if they were completely indestructable for a lot of sea life. Those "biodegradable" bags photo degrade into tiny bits quite quickly so you don't see a big old bag in the water, but those little bits get ingested by the sea life and clog up their digestive system making it difficult for them to get real nutrients out of their food. Picture an animal starving to death while eating.
The other thing about the "biodegradable" bags is that they cost more and so very very few stores would use them. Meanwhile people like you would believe that since such a bag exists somewhere that all the bags you're getting everyday are all that kind of "biodegradable" bag.
44
Please use a plastic bag at the meat counter so u dont contaminate everything in your basket,not to mention contaminating everybody elses food that comes after you!!! Slimey drops of chicken juice and bloody beef juices are messy and just plain gross! ! ! This comes from the cross contamination conscience checker,that has to clean up the mess you leave behind !
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