A couple of university studies show that you need to wash reusable grocery bags once in a while. (This makes for an interesting story, but let’s agree not to overdo it by promoting it as “Grocery Bags That Kill,” OK?)
Food Safety News reported that the unwashed bags can contain bacteria levels that are high enough to make you sick:
“According to a joint food safety research report issued by researchers at the University of Arizona and Loma Linda University, reusable grocery bags can serve as a breeding ground for dangerous foodborne bacteria and pose a serious risk to public health.
“The researchers randomly tested reusable grocery bags carried by shoppers in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Tucson. Researchers 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 the bags sampled,’ said Charles Gerba, Ph.D., a University of Arizona environmental microbiology professor and co-author of the study. ‘Furthermore, consumers are alarmingly unaware of these risks and the critical need to sanitize their bags after every use.’ “
The Loma Linda study found that the number of bacteria increased 10-fold when meat juices were added to the bags:
“In interviews it was found that reusable bags are seldom if ever washed and often used for multiple purposes. Large numbers of bacteria were found in almost all bags and coliform bacteria in half. Escherichia coli were identified in 12% of the bags and a wide range of enteric bacteria, including several opportunistic pathogens.
“When meat juices were added to bags and stored in the trunks of cars for two hours the number of bacteria increased 10-fold indicating the potential for bacterial growth in the bags. Hand or machine washing was found to reduce the bacteria in bags by >99.9%. These results indicate that reusable bags can play a significant role in the cross contamination of foods if not properly washed on a regular basis. It is recommended that the public needs to be educated about the proper care of reusable bags by printed instructions on the bags or through public service announcements.”
You can count me to be in step with the 97 percent of people studied who said they have never bleached or even washed the reusable bags. Some places like California are making it more difficult to even get plastic bags.
The little store where I shop when I am teaching in Toronto charges me 10 cents (in Canadian money) for each bag. I have started using my laundry bag from the hotel just because it grates on me to pay so much for a plastic bag. Washington, D.C., also charges for grocery bags.
There must come a time when the water and chemicals it takes to wash a reusable bag offset the environmental savings of not using plastic.
You can read more about lanyards all over the internet.
