Perhaps you’ve envied them for their thrifty and ecologically minded ways, cursing the darkness that you haven’t been able to plan ahead as they do. But here’s something that may ease your feelings of inadequacy – the bag bearers may actually be bringing a disease-ravaged cloth into their home, one that could potentially spread some serious illnesses.
Yes, the reusable grocery bag, that symbol of man’s triumph over waste and inefficiency, is actually a filthy, dirty mess inside. The Canadian Environment and Plastics Industry undertook a study to look at the bags for levels of yeast, bacteria and mold. They claimed that about 40 percent of the bags studied had mold and yeast that could affect those who have sensitivities, allergies or weakened systems brought about by infections. The study found two-thirds of the bags contained harmful bacteria.
You may be rightfully skeptical about a survey done by the plastics industry, which obviously has a vested interest in the report’s outcome. But there are real-world examples as well. In 2010, Oregon public health officials traced an outbreak of the norovirus in a group of soccer players to a reusable grocery bag.
It seems that packaged cookies team members consumed were left in a bag in a hotel room where a team member was very sick. The resultant aerosol spray of norovirus from the ill girl landed in the bag and festered. Eventually, the researchers on the outbreak narrowed down the potential causes of the disease, focusing on the fact that everyone had consumed the same cookies. That’s when the bag came under scrutiny.