Do you use "reuseable" grocery bags? I do, and I love them. I use them for much more than just getting groceries home from the store. They carry towels to the pool, toys and and treats for play dates, and store random things that collect in the car, the list goes on and on. Did you know those bags could be making your family sick? I got home from a recent shopping trip and realized the bags were definitely not looking to fresh.
Then, I read this post on Happy Housewife and will admit it kinda made me sick to think that I could have made my family ill! I did a little more research and realized lots of the practices that they talked about are ones that I have done in past (using bags for other things).
"Our findings suggest a serious threat to public health, especially from coliform bacteria including E. coli, which were detected in half of the bags sampled," saidCharles Gerba, a UA professor of soil, water and environmental science and co-author of the study. "Furthermore, consumers are alarmingly unaware of these risks and the critical need to sanitize their bags on a weekly basis."
Yikes huh?! Our Healthy Family tip this week is to make sure those reuseable bags get washed between use. Another way to help make sure you are keeping things clean is to designate bags for produce, meat, and other items. I have bags designated for produce (green bag) meat (red bag) and other groceries (black, blue and purple). Another super easy way to do that is to use a permanent marker and write what the bag is to be used for. Now I am off to wash the reuseable bags before the new sales start tomorrow!
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