Researchers at the University of Arizona and Loma Linda University found that a staggering 97 percent of eco-conscious shoppers who tote reusable woven polypropylene bags do not regularly -- if ever -- clean them, breeding "whopping amounts" of bacteria.
Seventy-five percent admitted they mix meats and vegetables in the same bags and often take reusing to a new level, tossing books, snacks and other personal items into the bags after shopping.
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What's in your bag? According to a new study, bacteria. Reusable shopping bags could be one of the factors contributing to the 76 million cases of food-borne illnesses every year in the United States, according to a new study.
The study found that bad bag sanitation has consequences. After testing 84 bags for bacteria, researchers found that half of the totes contained coliform bacteria, a sign of raw meat or uncooked food contamination, and 12 percent bore the dreaded E. coli bacteria that can cause serious food poisoning.
"Reusable bags, if not properly washed between uses, create the potential for cross-contamination of foods," the study said. "This potential exists when raw meat products and foods traditionally eaten uncooked (fruits and vegetables) are carried in the same bags, either together or between uses. This risk can be increased by the growth of bacteria in the bags."
Bacteria-laden bags could be one of the factors contributing to the 76 million cases of food-borne illnesses every year in the United States, according to the study.
"I've never washed them ... I never really thought about it," Melissa Rogan, a shopper at a New York supermarket, told AOL News today. "Here I am thinking I'm doing such a great thing and now they're crawling with bacteria?"
While taken aback at the study's findings, another reusable bag-toting shopper in New York, Nicholas Lochman, said he was relieved to hear that researchers learned that washing the bags wiped out almost all bacteria.
"I never washed them, but I guess I will now," he said. "If that's all I have to do then, hey, I'll do it. I don't want E. coli in my house."
The study, funded by the American Chemistry Council, will be providing context in talks about a California bill that would ban single-use plastic bags, which, despite their lack of eco-friendliness, rarely breed bacteria.
It's not easy being green -- but unclean bags aren't a problem for the people who don't carry them.
"I don't use them," New York shopper Jose Lupica told AOL News. "I know I should, but I just can't get into it."
