March, 2011 – We awoke this morning to the shocking news that supermarket grocery carts are bacteria laden, fecal carrying, ecoli-infested, poo machines. We wondered how it could be that last week this was essentially unknown to us and yet by 10AM these dirty facts were the topic of 2 stories on the local newscast, 1 story on a National newscast and had earned a spot on Google News.
In case you hadn’t heard, these news reports said that 72% of supermarket grocery carts test positive for fecal matter and 52% test positive fro “deadly germs” like E.Coli and salmonella. The report was enough to shock supermarket chain Winn-Dixie into announcing that it will now clean and sanitize shopping carts, hand baskets, handicap carts, food trays and other equipment at the its 484 stores.
What happened recently at our supermarkets? Why weren’t we warned about the filth before the fact? Are industry players aware of this? Well it turns out that these shocking figures are the headlines of a University of Arizona study. Researchers tested 85 shopping carts in four states for the presence of bacteria. Over 60 of these carts tested positive for traces of fecal bacteria. Half of 36 carts subjected to further testing yielded evidence of E. coli bacteria. “That’s more than you find in a supermarket’s restroom,” says Charles Gerba, the author of the study and sometimes referred to as “Dr. Germ”
The potential sources of bacteria are endless on the shopping carts and baskets and include sneezing, coughing, failure to hand wash after restroom use, meat drippings, dirty diapers, sweat, and baby drool. But did all of this happen overnight? Chances are that your local grocery store is just as dirty this week as it was last year. It turns out a couple of things may be at play here and including the fact that several states regularly attempt to pass legislation forcing retailers to take steps to sanitize their stores by providing sanitary wipes or taking other measures. Coincidentally funding for this research being done by “Dr. Germ” happens to be provided by Clorox, the largest supplier of sanitizing wipes.
Editors who get hold of these top-line research stats make headlines out of them such as “Public restrooms are cleaner than your supermarket”. This makes retailers go on the defensive for a few days and order a sanitary review. All this despite the fact that, as in the words of one expert, “there may be bacteria on shopping carts but they can also be found on doorknobs, countertops and a host of other items we touch every day. In fact, my guess is that there are more bacteria on a car seat than on a shopping cart.”
In the meantime the public may be wise to follow some common sense sanitary practices and take Dr. Germ’s advice which is that “the best way to keep kids safe is to swipe the shopping cart handle with a disinfecting wipe before you pop your kid into the basket. awoke this morning to the shocking news that supermarket grocery carts are bacteria laden, fecal carrying, ecoli-infested, poo machines. We wondered how it could be that last week this was essentially unknown to us and yet by 10AM these dirty facts were the topic of 2 stories on the local newscast, 1 story on a National newscast and had earned a spot on Google News.
In case you hadn’t heard, these news reports said that 72% of supermarket grocery carts test positive for fecal matter and 52% test positive fro “deadly germs” like E.Coli and salmonella. The report was enough to shock supermarket chain Winn-Dixie into announcing that it will now clean and sanitize shopping carts, hand baskets, handicap carts, food trays and other equipment at the its 484 stores.
What happened recently at our supermarkets? Why weren’t we warned about the filth before the fact? Are industry players aware of this? Well it turns out that these shocking figures are the headlines of a University of Arizona study. Researchers tested 85 shopping carts in four states for the presence of bacteria. Over 60 of these carts tested positive for traces of fecal bacteria. Half of 36 carts subjected to further testing yielded evidence of E. coli bacteria. “That’s more than you find in a supermarket’s restroom,” says Charles Gerba, the author of the study and sometimes referred to as “Dr. Germ”
The potential sources of bacteria are endless on the shopping carts and baskets and include sneezing, coughing, failure to hand wash after restroom use, meat drippings, dirty diapers, sweat, and baby drool. But did all of this happen overnight? Chances are that your local grocery store is just as dirty this week as it was last year. It turns out a couple of things may be at play here and including the fact that several states regularly attempt to pass legislation forcing retailers to take steps to sanitize their stores by providing sanitary wipes or taking other measures. Coincidentally funding for this research being done by “Dr. Germ” happens to be provided by Clorox, the largest supplier of sanitizing wipes.
Editors who get hold of these top-line research stats make headlines out of them such as “Public restrooms are cleaner than your supermarket”. This makes retailers go on the defensive for a few days and order a sanitary review. All this despite the fact that, as in the words of one expert, “there may be bacteria on shopping carts but they can also be found on doorknobs, countertops and a host of other items we touch every day. In fact, my guess is that there are more bacteria on a car seat than on a shopping cart.”
In the meantime the public may be wise to follow some common sense sanitary practices and take Dr. Germ’s advice which is that “the best way to keep kids safe is to swipe the shopping cart handle with a disinfecting wipe before you pop your kid into the basket.We awoke this morning to the shocking news that supermarket grocery carts are bacteria laden, fecal carrying, ecoli-infested, poo machines. We wondered how it could be that last week this was essentially unknown to us and yet by 10AM these dirty facts were the topic of 2 stories on the local newscast, 1 story on a National newscast and had earned a spot on Google News.
In case you hadn’t heard, these news reports said that 72% of supermarket grocery carts test positive for fecal matter and 52% test positive fro “deadly germs” like E.Coli and salmonella. The report was enough to shock supermarket chain Winn-Dixie into announcing that it will now clean and sanitize shopping carts, hand baskets, handicap carts, food trays and other equipment at the its 484 stores.
What happened recently at our supermarkets? Why weren’t we warned about the filth before the fact? Are industry players aware of this? Well it turns out that these shocking figures are the headlines of a University of Arizona study. Researchers tested 85 shopping carts in four states for the presence of bacteria. Over 60 of these carts tested positive for traces of fecal bacteria. Half of 36 carts subjected to further testing yielded evidence of E. coli bacteria. “That’s more than you find in a supermarket’s restroom,” says Charles Gerba, the author of the study and sometimes referred to as “Dr. Germ”
The potential sources of bacteria are endless on the shopping carts and baskets and include sneezing, coughing, failure to hand wash after restroom use, meat drippings, dirty diapers, sweat, and baby drool. But did all of this happen overnight? Chances are that your local grocery store is just as dirty this week as it was last year. It turns out a couple of things may be at play here and including the fact that several states regularly attempt to pass legislation forcing retailers to take steps to sanitize their stores by providing sanitary wipes or taking other measures. Coincidentally funding for this research being done by “Dr. Germ” happens to be provided by Clorox, the largest supplier of sanitizing wipes.
Editors who get hold of these top-line research stats make headlines out of them such as “Public restrooms are cleaner than your supermarket”. This makes retailers go on the defensive for a few days and order a sanitary review. All this despite the fact that, as in the words of one expert, “there may be bacteria on shopping carts but they can also be found on doorknobs, countertops and a host of other items we touch every day. In fact, my guess is that there are more bacteria on a car seat than on a shopping cart.”
In the meantime the public may be wise to follow some common sense sanitary practices and take Dr. Germ’s advice which is that “the best way to keep kids safe is to swipe the shopping cart handle with a disinfecting wipe before you pop your kid into the basket.