We’re all encouraged to carry reusable totes to the grocery store, but unless you’re cleaning yours regularly the practice might turn you a sickly shade of green!
Researchers at the University of Arizona recently tested 84 resuable shoppers for bacteria and other nasties. They found that more than half of the bags were infected with dangerous bacteria including harmful E.coli.
Apparently our groceries are the big culprits behind the contamination. As we use the shoppers they collect leaky fruit juices, meat blood, and a host of other foodstuffs. Fungus and mold can also breed amongst the bags’ fibers. And then consider all the germs we pick up from our car trunks, kitchen and supermarket counters, and anywhere else the bags sit. And as most people never wash their reusable bags, it’s no wonder the totes become pretty disgusting before long!
I must admit, I’m guilty of never washing my shoppers despite taking them on every grocery run. Judging by the statistics I’m not a slob either; no one thinks of taking care of this bags. I throw them out when they start to look a bit manky, but goodness knows what they’ve bred by then!
Do you wash your reusable shopping bags? If not, has this research encouraged you to start?
