Posted on 12/16/2010 6:26:23 AM PST by george76
Every week hundreds of Utahns carry their groceries home in reusable grocery bags. They do it to help the health of the environment, but it may be at the risk of their own health. KSL 5 News pulled out the gloves, the swabs and the culture dishes for a Staying Safe investigation that reveals - you may be carrying more in your bag than you bought.
Studies done in other states found some reusable bags have contained samples of e.coli and salmonella. But our tests were negative: no e.coli, no salmonella. The coliforms were another story.
Of the 89 bags sampled, 99 percent had major growths of coliform bacteria and at least 50 percent had too much bacteria to count -- though Gallardo estimates there was anywhere from 60,000 to 30 million counts of bacteria.
"You can't differentiate anything cause there's so much growth on them," he said as he looked at the culture dishes covered in spores.
(Excerpt) Read more at ksl.com ...
Hmmmmm, would washing these bags regularly help?
Well The United Nations has already given us an answer for this. Greenies need to start eating insects grown locally (or at home) and then there is no need for buying groceries and carrying them in a bag. Besides these bacteria have rights too so greenies may want to just accept using the bags anyway.
But the funny part is the attitude towards taxing (yes, it is a tax) plastic grocery bags. The rationale is that they are bad for the planet. You'd think if that was the case the government would just ban them.
I think he means "colonies" not "spores." Spores are typically too small to see.
In any case, the numbers of bacteria are irrelevant. E. coli are harmless bacteria that make up part of our normal intestinal flora--unless the hemorrhagic E. coli O157:H7 was cultured, the presence of E. coli is not dangerous. The only relevant issue when discussing the presence of bacteria is, how many pathogenic bacteria were present? If they aren't pathogenic, they aren't a problem. No one gets upset about the bacteria in their yogurt...
Carry raw meat home one week; carry veggies or fruit next week; ta-da, you have just your family sick.
Of course, if you wash the bags every time you use them (which is what you should do to prevent cross contanimation), you negate any energy savings from using a the same bag over and over.
It would help to wash the bags regularly—might even solve the problem. Some of them are cute little plastic bags that can’t be washed. Maybe I’ll get some washable bags or go back to the disposable ones.
Not just Germs ... also discovered these bags contain lead.
What makes you think these people wash anything regularly?
Yes, but they're a marker for fecal contamination.
The major problem I have with plastic bags is that clerks tend to overuse them.
There have been times I purchased 8 items and ended up with 10 plastic store bags.
Apparently, the bacteria really started to stink.
Gallardo said it was so bad, the samples made his entire lab smell like a hamster’s cage.
Good! At least the libs will be the only ones to suffer from their feel good stupidity!
Enough already!
I talked to a cashier who complained people were showing up with bags, with roaches in them.
If people want to use them fine. But I refuse to believe you are saving the planet with these bags.
What they need to develop is a bag made out of a renewable resource, which can be recycled numerous times, which is rapidly biodegradable, is possibly brown, folds up nice, and completes the question “_____ or plastic?”
Cute little plastic bags can be sprayed with Lysol, bleach-water or wiped out with a warm cloth and dried. If the meat or dairy leaks, my bags get treated.
The answer to what to do with plastic bags is to have a couple of cats!
Paper, plastic, or e-coli?
But it looked so good on paper!!!!
LOL
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