I've Been Wondering About ...

Reusable Shopping Bags - Are they Sanitary?

I own a bunch of cloth shopping bags: two that we got free an environmental group, one labeled Kroger, two from Martin's (of which one is insulated for cold goods), and even one labeled Walmart. I bought the last one after my husband appropriated a couple of the others for storing maps and stuff in the trunk of the car.

But I've been wondering if bacteria are lurking in the bags, contaminating whatever I carry in them. One study shows that yes, the reusable bags are sources of bacteria, but that study has been accused of bias because it was funded by the plastics industry. Still, the logic is there.

Turns out that Health Canada has published some hints for dealing with this issue. In Food Safety Tips for Reusable Grocery Bags and Bins, they tell us how to reduce the danger of food-borne illness by sanitizing our shopping bags.

First of all, we should wash them regularly "especially after carrying fresh produce, meat, poultry or fish." They also suggest wrapping meat, poultry and fish "in plastic bags, such as the clear bags you can find in the produce and some meat sections. This will help prevent the juices from leaking out and contaminating your reusable bags." It seems like this defeats the goal of avoiding plastic bags, but I have been doing this with poultry all along, since raw poultry is a known source of salmonella.

They also suggest the following, which I'm a bit embarrassed to admit I hadn't thought of: "After putting your groceries away, clean the areas where you placed your bags or bins while unbagging your food, especially the kitchen counter and the kitchen table." This makes sense even if you use disposable bags, because your bags could have picked up bacteria or other bad stuff in the grocery cart or in your car. It's funny, I wouldn't put my shoes on the kitchen counter but the grocery bags may have been in the trunk or on the floor of the car or even on dirty pavement, and I still didn't think of them as particularly dirty. Well, I'd better go clean my countertops with vinegar and water while I'm thinking about it.