GERM ALERT: Beware of Shopping Carts

Next time you go to the supermarket you may want to wear gloves and swaddle the kids in protective gear.  Or, at least, bring some disinfectant wipes--or use the ones in store dispensers--to clean cart handles.  Turns out shopping carts are teeming with germs, according to a recent study.


Researchers swabbed shopping cart handles for bacteria in four states.  Their somewhat unsettling findings:  72% of the 85 carts examined had traces of fecal bacteria.  The researchers took a closer look at samples from 36 carts.  They found that 50% of them were contaminated with E. coli.


"That's more than you find in a supermarket's restroom", said lead study author Charles Gerba, a microbiology professor at the University of Arizona.  The reason?  Shopping carts aren't routinely scrubbed like restrooms!


SOURCE :  Gerba said the bacteria likely stem from raw foods, bird or other animal feces (while carts are outside) and contaminated hands.


And carts aren't the only bacteria magnets at the supermarket.  You know those reusable shopping bags designed to save the environment?  You might want to wash yours -- immediately!  Gerba said tests showed reusable bags that aren't washed regularly also contain a lot of germs.


SO GO GREEN -- BUT GO CLEAN, TOO!!!!!