Ewww! This Is Really Gross
By pyewacket
@pyewacket (43903)
United States
November 13, 2008 7:58pm CST
I heard this on the late, late World News Now last night about how germ ridden a simple thing like those grocery shopping carts (or trolleys) are in our supermarkets. One of the culprits is when a parent puts their child in that area that is big enough to put a toddler in. The toddler then might lick on the main handle, spreading it's germs and one research group not only found germs from old saliva, but fecal matter in the seat part where the child sits in the cart. In fact the research team discover there is more germs and bacteria on shopping carts than in public toilets...ewww. And just think you might be putting your food in that section right where a kid's pooey or peey butt was...nice...NOT
Here's an excerpt from the article I found
[i]University of Arizona researchers tested shopping carts and found that their handles have more saliva, bacteria and fecal matter than public toilets. Kids are sometimes the culprits.
"They don't necessarily have the best sanitary habits," said Dr. Chuck Gerba, an environmental microbiologist at the University of Arizona. "And you're putting your broccoli right where the kid's butt was."
Other times, the cart contaminates the kids. Riding in a shopping cart near raw meat is one of the top salmonella risk factors for children, right below exposure to reptiles, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
"Children start playing with the meat and the meat wrapper, they can become infected that way," said Dr. William Schaffner, chairman of the department of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt Medical School in Nashville, Tenn. "It's not the cart itself, but what you put in it that matters."
To combat germs, 20 supermarkets across the country have taken an innovative step, installing sanitizing devices for shopping carts. The machines look like mini car washes for carts and spray a misty peroxide solution over the entire cart after every use that is guaranteed to kill 99 percent of germs, including E. coli and salmonella.
[/i]
Here's the link to the article and it also has a video
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=6237639&page=1
{Warning: This is NOT a referral link, but a link to the article about this issue}
Thank goodness whenever I go grocery shopping I take my own shopping wagon with me. I never realized before what germ-filled ticking time bombs supermarket carts could be
Did any of you realize the germ hazard supermarket carts can be? Do they have the "cart" washers in your supermarket yet? They sure don't have them where I am. Do you think more supermarkets should have the cleaners?
15 people like this
57 responses
@grandpa_lash (5225)
• Australia
14 Nov 08
Alright, consider this: If all these supermarket trolleys are so deadly, and there are possibly millions of them used each day around the world, how come there is not the sort of epidemic that mobilises the WHO happening? How many mothers do exactly what your discussion suggests, and how many of their families come down with ghastly ailments in the next week or so? How many of these ticking time-bombs have actually exploded?
Western society is paranoid about germs. They are an ubiquitous part of nature, and it takes very special circumstances for them to become a real threat to the humans they have co-existed with since we came down out of the trees, or even out of the sea. We take this far too seriously. I know the sociologists call our era "Risk Society", but really.
I was a professional cook for a significant part of my working life, and have cooked for myself and friends for nearly 50 years. I am not always meticulous about kitchen hygiene, and I suspect only the truly compulsive obsessives are, yet in all that time I have never given anyone, including myself, food poisoning. Ask yourself how many YOU have caused.
Yes, it happens, but mostly from blatant failures in hygiene, like not washing your hands after excreting and then cooking, or keeping food at sub-standard temperatures for too long, as many fast-food outlets do. And lets face it, most of the reported cases come from just that area. Botulism is a different issue all together, and comes from not failures in hygiene or germ ind=festation, but from poor food preservation or contamination.
Lash
2 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
14 Nov 08
To be honest grandpa_lash I'm not particularly a germ phobic and I do realize we are exposed to germs/bacteria and viruses all the time. One of the main problems as I see it, is thanks to so many who are germaphobics and using antibacterial this, antibacterial that, we have in a sense created stronger more antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria and viruses...in fact I related elsewhere here that one of the worse places to go is a hospital..LOL. Th origins of that superbug mrsa came from hospitals as the docs and nurses aren't as cautious about sanitizing their hands making their rounds patient to patient.
You were a pro cook? What kind of food did you do? I've been a specialist in French cooking, and like you if someone saw how I cook would cringe as I'm not a fanatic about cleaning my hands every five seconds, and I use wooden boards when I cut, slice, mince, dice, or carve food on.
Sadly, here in this country though we have seen a real rapid rise in e. coli and salmonella outbreaks of food. Almost weekly another food is being recalled, and not just processed foods either...during our summer here the biggest salmonella scare were from fresh tomatoes...then there was spinach, lettuce, blueberries, hamburger meat..yikes you name it..so yup, concerns about germs makes one think around here in our country...
@grandpa_lash (5225)
• Australia
14 Nov 08
Australia has its own blend of traditional British (our ancestry), Italian (our biggest immigrant population), and French (because we tend to be trained on French styles). Lately we have added a lot of SE Asian influence, again becausae of immigration, but that came after my time and I'm not much into it.
My menus tended to be the normal meat, chicken and fish grills, with a selection of mostly French sauces, and a strong element of Italian, like pasta dishes, risottos, osso bucos, and the ubiquitous (here, anyway) parmagianas, beef and chicken. In some places I did pastry dishes, either filo packets or ramikin style steak and kidney type things. We are big on seafood in mornay sauces, and I also used to put at least one casserole on my menus, usually a chicken, but sometimes a beef.
Lash
1 person likes this
@grandpa_lash (5225)
• Australia
14 Nov 08
I should have added, my point is that the sort of reports you linked us to are a perfect case of research done for the sake of research, a great academic failing. I think it was Abraham Maslow who once siad that if a thing is not worth doing well, it's not worth doing. There is no big deal in this reprot, these "germ" infestations are constant, and while you personally might not be a germophobe, there are lots of people who have responded here who seem to be. They need to put this issue into perspective.
Lash
1 person likes this
@Lakota12 (42600)
• United States
14 Nov 08
Heck no never thnk about this at all, adn yup all stores should have cleaners. Boy now what to do when they dont guess buy wipes to wipe off the handles and set . Yikes and thats where I put my grand daughter or she holds to the side of the cart.
Not showing this to daughter she thinks to much any how!
2 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
16 Nov 08
Showing your daughter this article would make her nervous then???
1 person likes this
@whiteheather39 (24403)
• United States
14 Nov 08
I shop at Krogers and they have a dispenser of Chlorox wipes next to the empty carts. area. I wipe the handle and the infant seat area with them before I start to shop.
2 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
16 Nov 08
That's great they have that. None of the supermarkets near me have any of those wipes to clean off carts. You think they would in a major city type area like I live in
1 person likes this
@barehugs (8973)
• Canada
14 Nov 08
How many of you have read, or heard on the News, that kids are becoming more and more sensitive to the food they eat? Schools are banning nuts because a child could be allergic and die after coming into contact with one peanut. The general consensus is that parents are going overboard to keep their kids germ free. I grew up on a Farm during WW2 when there were no antibiotics. I was the oldest of a family of four. I was the babysitter when my mom was doing field work with a team of horses. We always had enough to eat, but nobody knew anything of, or cared about Germs. I can't remember anyone being sick, but I can remember my little sister crawling around the front yard eating chicken droppings. My mom grabbed her and took her into the house, but she never got sick. Seems to me that each child should be naturally exposed to germs to activate the normal anti-bacterial pathogens that live in a Healthy Human Being.
2 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
14 Nov 08
I heard in the news that there's this idea to expose very young children to peanut butter to counteract any allergic reaction they might have later...sort of the same principle with the concept of vaccines against different diseases since when one is vaccinated with something one is actually exposed to the bacteria or virus itself and the idea being it builds an immunity to the bacteria/virus
I have to agree with Maggiepie though...there are a lot stronger and frankly weirder diseases out in the world now....and did you know the more likely place to get sick? A hospital..LOL. That's is the origins of that superbug MRSA came from
1 person likes this
@Maggiepie (7816)
• United States
14 Nov 08
Well, I grew up on a farm, too, & I do get where you're coming from. I did raise chickens, but I never ate any chicken poop ...igg....LOL!
But....things are different, now. There're a LOT more nasty diseases running loose today than when I was a kid, & there are even those who, for insane reasons, DELIBERATELY infect others by spreading germs by touch. I think there's no harm in using a =reasonable= amount of caution.
Apropo of your comment on peanuts, I, also, wonder about the peanut thing, because for goodness sakes, it HAS to be extremely RARE, yes? I mean, why be so hysterical as to prevent the vast majority from taking peanut butter sandwiches to school because it MIGHT affect ONE child?
If that child has such a problem, surely he should be put into some school which caters to such fragile members of society. Others there for similar reasons would be company, so that way, he wouldn't feel lonely, & he'd be protected!
IOW, don't make us ALL live in the bubble!
Maggiepie
1 person likes this
@Opal26 (17679)
• United States
14 Nov 08
Hey pye! Oh that's just great! And to think that I have to
go grocery shopping this week and use one of those disgusting
carts! And I am usually grossed out to begin with about
touching those carts as it is! And yes I have thought about
the fact that those little brats do sit their butts in those
seats that I put my food in! That's just great! And no the
store that I go to doesn't have those cart washes and probably
will never have it! So now that I am thoroughly grossed out
what am I supposed to do? I could wear gloves but that won't
help the food and I will look pretty weird shopping in my
latex gloves, not that I really care about looking weird!
How do I protect my food? I guess I can line the seat with
those plastic bags from the produce department. So now I have
to remember to bring my latex gloves with me to shop! I'll
let you know how many weird comments and stares I get!lol
2 people like this
@webeishere (36313)
• United States
14 Nov 08
I've seen little ones withpout diapers etc on sitting in them before. OMG this is making me cringe now. Shopping with a cart won't be much fun anymore now huh?
HAPPY POSTINGS FROM GRANDPA BOB !!~
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
14 Nov 08
I used to wonder why I would see some people put their meat packages in those produce plastic bags...now beginning to understand why...as for gloves...maybe you could wear those surgical kind of gloves...they're not as "heavy" as the Platex kind of gloves...I've noticed a lot of checkouts in supermarkets wearing them.
Eww..GRANDPA BOB...yuck I've never seen bare-bottomed kids in those carts..just WHERE do you shop? LOL
@GardenGerty (157494)
• United States
14 Nov 08
Yes, I had read this or seen it on television. Chances are I read it in a magazine, because it then went on to talk about the mom who invented some quilted seat cover or another that would even snap over the handle of the cart. Yes, there are sanitizing wipes at the front of the grocery store, but not at Wal Mart. I carry hand sanitizer, and also have some home made wipes that have lavender and tea tree oil. I wipe stuff down all the time.
2 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
14 Nov 08
The major complaint most parents had though about any kind of sanitizing wipes where the chemicals in them and how it could also get a kid sick if the kid licked on the bar of the cart
1 person likes this
@1grnthmb (2055)
• United States
16 Nov 08
They just started doing here in just a few store last winter. I thought it was just wipes to dry off the cart until I used one. And got that nasty sanitizing goop on my hands from the wipes. I hate that stuff and it would not come off. Not even on my pants.
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
16 Nov 08
They don't even have sanitizing wipes at the stores near me..wonder why???
@eaforeman6 (8979)
• United States
14 Nov 08
I have heard about this. I would think that carrying antibacterial wipes might help. Its just something to think about , wash your hands everytime you touch these carts. Keep that instant hand sanitizer handy at all times. This is why so many ilness's spread. Its really gross to think about, because so many of those people never wash their hands.@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
14 Nov 08
from the video they said that they used to use those wipes but then people complained about the chemicals in them, and that it could endanger kids that might be licking those handlebars...
1 person likes this
@Amberina (1541)
• United States
14 Nov 08
Ok I have never thought about putting my food in the seats after a kid has been in there I will not be doing that anymore lol.
I have been in the store and seen little babies chewing on the bar that you push it with! I never let my little babies do that it's SO gross I will grab my sanitizing gel and wipe it across the bar that I have to push and then I will wash my hands with it when I'm done shopping.
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
16 Nov 08
Yes I've seen toddlers chewing on the handlebars also and the parents don't seem to care then wonder why their kids get sick
@gemini_rose (16264)
•
14 Nov 08
I never thought about it much before but yes I guess they would be full of germs. Then again though everything is that the public has access too. I do not tend to worry to much about it, if I did I would be a nervous wreck, as long as I keep up with my hygiene it is fine. We do not get ill very often so I must be doing OK, it is an interesting read though.
2 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
16 Nov 08
Yes, I'm lucky too in being fairly healthy as well. When you think of it we're surrounded by germs/bacteria and viruses...LOL..it's a wonder the human species hasn't become extinct...heehee
@catdla1 (6005)
• United States
14 Nov 08
Yuck! I never thought about germs on the shopping carts. Thinking about it, I'm surprised it hasn't been looked at before. If I had a toddler, I sure wouldn't want to put them in that cart, since you always see kids licking the handle, drooling...let alone anything from their other end. I've never put food directly onto that seat, thankfully. Our supermarkets have plastic bags for produce and other unwrapped food items. I think in the future I'll grab a few to put meat into, since it meat packages can leak out (and they do) germs can also pass in. Our local markets don't have cart sanitizers, but I think I'll buy a small spray bottle and make my own peroxide solution to mist it down with. Thanks for the info!
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
14 Nov 08
Now I think I understand when I see people put meat packages in those plastic bags for produce so the meat juices don't leak out. I've also have noticed more and more of the checkouts in supermarkets wear those surgical type gloves...mmm....makes you wonder
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
16 Nov 08
That would be a good idea...and you're right as far as cashiers handling those leaky meat packages
@catdla1 (6005)
• United States
15 Nov 08
I can see that wearing surgical-type gloves can protect the cashier from cantaminates. I can't see how is helps the general public though. Whatever he or she touches with the gloves (leaky chicken packages), is spread to the next item(s) touched, probably for several cartloads. What I would love to see is cashiers who use hand sanitizer after handling meat items, especially the leaky ones.
1 person likes this
@Mikyoo12 (187)
• United States
14 Nov 08
Wow. I had no idea. And I bet not only toddlers are at fault here. Im pretty sure that adults are all apart of the conspiracy also. I have seen with my own eye when in a supermarket or grocery store, I see some people pushing the carts wipe their nose and then hold on to the cart, or some young peopl who push the cart suck their thumbs. Or something simple as just wiping the sweat from their foreheads. Its really a site for sore eyes.
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
16 Nov 08
You have a point there about how other germs can get on those carts...ewww again
@modman3045 (24)
•
14 Nov 08
What people need to understand is that these facts and studies are usually funded by deturgent companies. Soaps and anti bacterial cleaners are big buisness and i mean BIG (trust me i work in the industry).
The simple fact is that the amount of germs on a shopping cart is insignificant to the huge amount on your skin (no matter now much you wash), In fact your own tounge and cheeks are probabally the most germ infested things you will ever encounter (mainly, e.coil and staf!!) and are completely harmless to your body.
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
16 Nov 08
Mmmm..don't think so. The spray that is used to clean those carts in the cart machine is simple peroxide, so not a detergent cleaner of any kind. UH, how can one's tongue be infested with e. coli which is a bacteria from feces? Don't think people eat feces..LOL
@modman3045 (24)
•
16 Nov 08
Well we come to the chicken of the egg situation, which came first feces or e.coli will im pretty sure e.coli predates it by about 800 million years. Honestly im not making it up, it is a fact, e.coli is on everything you touch not just confined to your toilet. Anyway this deveates from my comment, i wasnt talking about the disinfectant on the shopping cart i was talking about detergents in general.
@Aurone (4755)
• United States
14 Nov 08
That sure does sound nasty. But the more we sanitize things the nastier bacteria are going to become. This is because that 1% that isn't dying in the peroxide rinse are hardy, nasty little buggers and that is what turns into those incurable bugs. Now I am not saying that a little sanitation is a bad thing, but if we take it too far we are going to be in trouble. My grocery store just has wipes you can use on the cart.
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
14 Nov 08
Yes some people do go a bit batty with antibacterial this and that and that is why we now have the antibiotic superbugs. From what I understand the worse place to get a "bug" is believe it or not hospitals...LOL
@craftcatcher (3699)
• United States
14 Nov 08
Shopping carts are pretty nasty. A lot of grocery stores around here have wet wipes on the wall next to the carts so you can wipe down the handles and seat. My mother is fanatical about it. She brings her own sanitizing towelettes and wipes down the handle the seat the the entire top of the cart before she ever touches it with her bare hands. Frankly it can be embarrassing cause she goes cleaning crazy with those wet wipes! But it's definitely a good idea. Most of the colds I get I swear I get from the grocery store. I may start carrying my own wet wipes to the store until our stores get a cart washer.
Now if we can only find a safe and convenient way to wash our money.
1 person likes this
@craftcatcher (3699)
• United States
14 Nov 08
I would say it's just short of obsession, but it's a thin line! 
Honestly she gets sick a lot less often than I do and she's out in the public a heck of a lot more than I am. But it's hard to compare since most of the illnesses I get are brought home by my hubby. He works with two guys who both have young kids, plus he does most of the grocery shopping since my arthritis has gotten so bad. And I can guarantee he's not going to wipe down a shopping cart!
Honestly she gets sick a lot less often than I do and she's out in the public a heck of a lot more than I am. But it's hard to compare since most of the illnesses I get are brought home by my hubby. He works with two guys who both have young kids, plus he does most of the grocery shopping since my arthritis has gotten so bad. And I can guarantee he's not going to wipe down a shopping cart!1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
14 Nov 08
LOL--it sounds like your mom is a bit obsessive though with her routine of wiping the cart down but I guess she has a point...does she ever get sick shortly after grocery shopping..she might be on to something there..heehee
@BarBaraPrz (45437)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
14 Nov 08
Yet another unnecessary thing to worry about. Germs are everywhere and not all are bad. How can a body develop immunities without exposure? I can see it now: everything is constantly sanitized, but to make sure people don't get infected, they'll be given vaccinations... which, guess what?... introduce the germs into the body so it can make antibodies. Sheeee-eeesh!
1 person likes this
@BarBaraPrz (45437)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
16 Nov 08
And very little when we relied on iceboxes for refrigeration...
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
16 Nov 08
I can't help wondering though if MORE exposure to different bacterias are the culprit here in our country. We've had such a rash of recalled foods all with salmonella and e. coli
1 person likes this
@scarlet_woman (23465)
• United States
14 Nov 08
eew..
i don't like putting my hands anywhere a kid's been.for that particular reason.
we don't have cart washers per se,although at the local walmart they're supposed to wipe at least the handle before the carts are brought back in.but i bet on busy weekends they probably skip it.
1 person likes this
@scarlet_woman (23465)
• United States
16 Nov 08
i wish ours did..
makes me want to wear gloves 
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
16 Nov 08
I've noticed a number of people mentioning here how at stores near them that they have wipes near the cart area to wipe them down...wonder why they don't near me
1 person likes this
@sharra1 (6340)
• Australia
14 Nov 08
Ok our obsession with trying to remove germs from our life is actually harmful to us. It is important for children to be exposed to as many germs as possible when very young so their body learns to fight them. Our obsession with maybe their world too clean has actually resulted in a huge increase in allergies.
There was a study done on this between East and West Germans and they found that the West Germans cleaned everything and kept their children as removed from germs as possible while the East Germans did not. The study showed that the East German children were healthier, stronger and had fewer allergies because their bodies built immunity to them through exposure.
Our obsession with trying to make the world germ free is foolish. The germs are out there and they always will be. If you fail to let your children develop immunity to them then they will have big problems as adults. Doctors have said that our immune system learns to deal with a whole range of germs as children but it can only do this if the children have exposure to the germs. Once we have the immunity then we are much more able to deal with illness later in life.
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
14 Nov 08
Believe me I'm not a frantic germaphobic and yes we are bombarded and surrounded by germs, bacteria and viruses all the time, even in our own homes, and nope, never use antibacterial cleaners I just use good ole fashioned baking soda, white vinegar and lemons to clean (cheaper too). But you have to admit the idea of some toddler"s pooey diaper butt on that seating area of a cart where you might put your groceries on isn't exactly appetizing is it? LOL
1 person likes this
@sharra1 (6340)
• Australia
14 Nov 08
Yes I do not like seeing children in trolleys that are designed for food but the shops do not stop them and we seem to have no power to stop it. I fail to understand why they want to push a trolley with a child in it.
There are specific trolleys for babies with special attachments etc. but I suppose it you have kids then it can be hard to shop and not take them with you.
1 person likes this
@nanajanet (4436)
• United States
14 Nov 08
I think that we have become completely germophobic, to the point that people do not build up their immune systems. The healthiest kids I knew, growing up, came from dirty homes. They were always dirty, the house was dirty and they were rarely sick.
I also had a friend whose mother was a real phobic about germs. She went beyond the ridiculous, even plastic covers on all of the furniture, washed the bedclothes everyday, etc. (now they would call her OCD or Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder). Those kids were sick a lot.
At the time, I was too young to realize it but now I look back and realize that they did not build up enough immunities.
If a person has a strong immune system, eats properly, gets decent sleep, allows time for enjoyment to cut back on stress, those germs will not hurt. In all of my years, I have not worried about the carts and I am basically a healthy person, as were my kids. Germs are a part of life.
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
14 Nov 08
I'm by no means a germaphobic and realize we're always surrounded by germs, bacteria, and viruses. In fact, people's nutcase fanaticism of using all those antibacterial soaps, lotions, whatever has created super bugs..that is germs/bacteria/viruses that are resistant, but it does make you wonder at times about needless exposures to them all. Who knows, maybe it could explain the unusually higher rates of e. coli and salmonella poisonings in our foods that we just plain never had years ago
1 person likes this
@nanajanet (4436)
• United States
14 Nov 08
I am not one either but my late aunt was a nut. She would wash the entire apartment, even the walls, every week. She really overdid it. My uncle was sick a lot and she just was too much. Since she passed, he does not clean like her. I do not see him as much but have not heard him complain, so who knows?
Dirt can be good!! LOL
1 person likes this
