Whoa Whoa Whoa, you have to wash things that get raw meat drippings on them?! Slow down there Mr. ScientistMcSmartyPants!

Thank you USA Today for keeping us infromed11

I'm pretty sure we've had a Fark link about this already. "Reusable bag=bacteria" pops up every so often, just like "shopping carts=bacteria" does.

Barbigazi: Jesus, wait until you hear about all the shiat in your mouth.

and on your skin.

/Hot like Farkitrol

Should I not have licked my grocery bags? Dammit! Nobody told me!

/they looked so yummy

Quick! Blast everything with something that kills 99.999% of bacteria!

I have definitely seen this on fark before, but I can't seem to find the link.

Yeah, you have to wash stuff.

Lumpmoose: The researchers tested 84 bags and found that over half were contaminated with bacteria, the Arizona Republic reports.

Er, isn't every square inch of this planet "contaminated with bacteria"? Germophobic bullshiat. Don't straight eat out of the bag and wash your hands before preparing meals.

WTF -- getting up in the morning is dangerous. Remember when the news media used to be about news?

brainiac-dumdum: Yeah, you have to wash stuff.

There is bacteria in my environment. How soon can you send someone?

I am shocked that cloth gets dirty.

Oh no, not BACTERIA!

Americans are cowards. There is a reason that Americans have so many autoimmune disorders. We try so hard to keep ourselves from ever coming in any contact with any organisms that our immune systems sit around trying to kill us out of boredom.

Article opens with "Can going green put your health at risk?" and closes obliquely with "not really."


The only rationale for single use plastic bags is "convenience" which is short hand for "laziness."

The green movement is now trying to infiltrate the HazMat world. Had a woman yesterday complain and argue that we were throwing away used chemical gloves and suits.

My reply "Lady, these were used to clean up a chemical spill. I value human live over the environment every single day of the week". Didn't really shut her ass up at all...

Freemasons rule the country!

Of course, the study was funded by the plastics industry.

What did they think the "bio" part of "biodegradable" was supposed to mean? That fluffy bunnies and timid fawns would happily nibble them away, and receive oodles of essential vitamins and minerals from our wonderful products of green technology?

They're biodegradable because they can easily be broken down by common bacteria, nimrods. Of course bacteria are going to set up shop as fast as they can, in nature waiting around before digging in to the all-you-can-eat buffet results in being eaten for dessert by the organisms that didn't.

I don't trust that packaging at the store. I immediately unwrap all of my meat and put it directly into the bag then just have the checkout girl scan the empty packages. Sometimes I forget and leave the bag of meat in the car for a couple of hours. I don't bother to wash the bags, because nobody told me I had to. Is this a problem?

Crusader If you are really of bacteria in bags, I've got some real bad news about your grocery cart...

/those things are NEVER cleaned.

Sunlight kills most germs. I wonder if leaving the carts in the sun nukes most of the germs.

Let me guess, raw meat?

I'm an environmentalist, but not a f--king insane one. If I get raw meat or fish, it goes in a plastic bag in my reusable bag(s) (which cost me $1 from a local grocery, hold three plastic bag's worth, and fold/snap shut to a flat square... they f--king rock).

I was just thinking on the way home today from the grocery that the raw-meat issue might come up sooner rather than later in the places that are trying to ban all plastic bags, period.

Other than that... I'm going to wash my fruits and veggies before I eat them anyway, and anything else comes packaged in *something*. As long as I keep the raw meat items segregated, why should I worry?

/DRTFA
/DRTFT, either

brainiac-dumdum: Yeah, you have to wash stuff.

Came to say this.

little big man: Of course, the study was funded by the plastics industry.


Wanted for questioning...

Yep, I was right.

F--k reusable bags - my mom drilled into me since I was a little kid that if you wouldn't want it on the food you eat raw, you bag it separate. Goes for raw meat, goes for bleach, unless it's in it's own bag.

The bleach was a bit much, but the plastic bag the raw meat was in (inside another plastic bag) got thrown out as soon as we used the meat.

Bit paranoid, bit wasteful, but I've only known one butcher counter that could wrap meat perfectly in wax paper without a drip, ever... and that was a dedicated meat shop. Grocery store butcher counter... yeah, plastic, please.

StreetlightInTheGhetto: Yep, I was right.

F--k reusable bags - my mom drilled into me since I was a little kid that if you wouldn't want it on the food you eat raw, you bag it separate. Goes for raw meat, goes for bleach, unless it's in it's own bag.

The bleach was a bit much, but the plastic bag the raw meat was in (inside another plastic bag) got thrown out as soon as we used the meat.

Bit paranoid, bit wasteful, but I've only known one butcher counter that could wrap meat perfectly in wax paper without a drip, ever... and that was a dedicated meat shop. Grocery store butcher counter... yeah, plastic, please.

Always wrap the meat properly. You don't want to get the drip.

That is why I use whose thin disposable plastic bags. Cheap, efficient, convenient and hygenic. Awesome invention. Much better than having to carry your own bag to the grocery like in a third world nation. I think they will catch on.

Gangway Fathead: The only rationale for single use plastic bags is "convenience" which is short hand for "laziness."

Or possibly "I don't want stinky red stains in my reusable bags."

Most of the groceries go in reusable bags. Meats go in plastic. Plastic goes in trash. These things are on the entrance exam to be a rocket surgeon.

Wow...PLASTIC, dude.

/You're soaking in it.

Marley: Gangway Fathead: The only rationale for single use plastic bags is "convenience" which is short hand for "laziness."

Or possibly "I don't want stinky red stains in my reusable bags."

Most of the groceries go in reusable bags. Meats go in plastic. Plastic goes in trash. These things are on the entrance exam to be a rocket surgeon.

I knew I wasn't specific enough and someone would pick it apart. I was talking about single use full-sized plastic shopping bags at check out (is that specific enough?) - you know, the bags resuable ones are intended to replace. The article is posed to suggest that you're endangering yourself by using a resuable bag to shop. Which is of course b.s.

I'm not talking about eradicating plastic.

Gangway Fathead: I'm not talking about eradicating plastic.

Yeah but seeing as how much of it isn't even recyclable, yeah but we're going to have to.

At least make a hell of a lot less of it.

Like most things, there is a danger to you only if you're an idiot.

/Chuck the bags in the washer every now and then
//Insist on a plastic bag for meat, wash hands well when handling meat, and wash everything raw meat touches
///Wash the heck out of fruits and vegetables, even if they're organic you have no idea where they've been
////COMMON SENSE

whidbey: Gangway Fathead: I'm not talking about eradicating plastic.

Yeah but seeing as how much of it isn't even recyclable, yeah but we're going to have to.

At least make a hell of a lot less of it.

Using less is all I was suggesting. Use less they'll make less.

bobbette: Like most things, there is a danger to you only if you're an idiot.

/Chuck the bags in the washer every now and then
//Insist on a plastic bag for meat, wash hands well when handling meat, and wash everything raw meat touches
///Wash the heck out of fruits and vegetables, even if they're organic you have no idea where they've been
////COMMON SENSE

Whenever someone pulls the 'it's organic, I don't have to wash it!' I just remind them that poop is organic.

Well, it was probably used in the form of composted manure, but still.

The only thing I don't bother washing is stuff in my garden I raised from seed... and even then I might do a quick rinse to get dirt off and such.

Soaking the bags in boiling liquid bleach solves this problem. Of course, it creates a few others, like agonizing death. As an alternative, you might try, oh, cooking your food.

Just a thought.

Could be this is why there's thin, filmy plastic bags free for the taking in the produce and meat departments of the super markets I go to.

/Yay me!