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grocery cart cooties


Parsnip Totin Jack

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I'm sure everyone here goes to the grocery store at some point.  Does anyone use the sanitizing wipes to clean the handles of the shopping carts?  I don't recall noticing this trend when I lived in VA but here in Ohio they treat wiping the handles like a full-time job.  I've never used them as I doubt that they're really effective, I think that it's a belief system like Santa Claus or the flying spaghetti monster. 

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Nope.  I don't really by into all this sanitizing that people try to do.  I figure the best way to stay healthy is to have a functioning, well exercised immune system.  Bugs hit you the hardest when you've never been exposed to something like them before.  Keep yourself overly isolated and every germ you do get will hit you like a ton of bricks.

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There was a study done recently that showed that shopping carts are particularly disgusting.  That area where people put their babies was typically filthy with lots of fecal contamination.  If you want to dip your hands into other peoples' crap, go ahead.

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There was a study done recently that showed that shopping carts are particularly disgusting.  That area where people put their babies was typically filthy with lots of fecal contamination.  If you want to dip your hands into other peoples' crap, go ahead.

Never used them before........... I might have changed my mind.

 

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Nope.  I don't really by into all this sanitizing that people try to do.  I figure the best way to stay healthy is to have a functioning, well exercised immune system.  Bugs hit you the hardest when you've never been exposed to something like them before.  Keep yourself overly isolated and every germ you do get will hit you like a ton of bricks.

Reverend you're preaching to the choir here, that is exactly how I feel about it.

There was a study done recently that showed that shopping carts are particularly disgusting.  That area where people put their babies was typically filthy with lots of fecal contamination.  If you want to dip your hands into other peoples' crap, go ahead.

Those uncited studies are probably paid for by the makers of the wipes.  The germophobic parents use their own cart liners to protect their snowflakes from cooties.  And most babies' butts are in the seat and not on the handle of the cart.  so where does this 'fecal contamination' come from?  I can understand if you have a compromised immune system but mostly I think it's a made up phobia.

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Reverend you're preaching to the choir here, that is exactly how I feel about it.

Those uncited studies are probably paid for by the makers of the wipes.  The germophobic parents use their own cart liners to protect their snowflakes from cooties.  And most babies' butts are in the seat and not on the handle of the cart.  so where does this 'fecal contamination' come from?  I can understand if you have a compromised immune system but mostly I think it's a made up phobia.

Whatever makes you feel better.  Personally, I'll take the extra few seconds to wipe mine down.  I'm lazy, but not that lazy.

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Uncited study....

 

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/41838546/ns/health-childrens_health/t/e-coli-found-percent-shopping-carts/#.Va-26PlVhBc

Every day, parents blithely drop their toddlers into the baskets of shopping carts, never giving a moment’s thought to who might have had their hands on the handle last. Preliminary results from a new study show that may be a mistake.

Researchers from the University of Arizona swabbed shopping cart handles in four states looking for bacterial contamination. Of the 85 carts examined, 72 percent turned out to have a marker for fecal bacteria.

The researchers took a closer look at the samples from 36 carts and discovered Escherichia coli, more commonly known as E. coli, on 50 percent of them — along with a host of other types of bacteria.

“That’s more than you find in a supermarket’s restroom,” said Charles Gerba, the lead researcher on the study and a professor of microbiology at the University of Arizona. “That’s because they use disinfecting cleaners in the restrooms. Nobody routinely cleans and disinfects shopping carts.”

The study’s results may explain earlier research that found that kids who rode in shopping carts were more likely than others to develop infections caused by bacteria such as salmonella and campylobacter, Gerba said.

The best way to keep kids safe, Gerba said, is to swipe the shopping cart handle with a disinfecting wipe before you pop your kid into the basket.

 
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Lots of data is available.  Not just toddler dangers.

 

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/lifestyle/health/shopping-cart-germs-bacteria-found-on-handles-seats-carts-could-contaminate-your-food02142014

“We can’t even imagine what’s on the handles of those shopping carts. We could be getting into E. coli. We could be getting into Staph aureus which leads to MERSA, and we could also be getting into salmonella," Clayton said.

Salmonella, E. coli and Staph aureus are bacteria that cause severe gastro-intestinal illnesses. There are certain uncommon strains that can cause deadly illnesses. A decade’s worth of university and Centers for Disease Control studies find shopping cart seats and handles often have higher bacteria counts than surfaces in public restrooms.

Pathogens found on cart handles and seats can easily transfer to food put in the contaminated areas of carts. Clayton said they can transfer again when you get your groceries home.

“That transmission going from your groceries to your counter to your, you know, all over your house with anything you may touch," said Clayton.

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Whatever makes you feel better.  Personally, I'll take the extra few seconds to wipe mine down.  I'm lazy, but not that lazy.

It isn't laziness, I don't believe that the wipes are effective.  They are placed at store entrances there to soothe the public's fears over cooties (e-coli et al).  I'll take my chances.

 

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Sometimes I do, if they have them available.  Those carts look filthy most of the time.  I doubt the stores ever wash them.  I don't freak out too much though.  Life is a dirty business,  I can't even imagine how much fecal matter a mountainbiker consumes yearly. :mellow:

I bring the bags home, but keep them on the floor.  I don't like the idea of those bags touching my counter tops.  Also, if you use the canvas bags, it is important to give them a wash now and then.  That can help cut back on bacteria spreading all over.

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Like Old#7 said, it's not laziness. 

#1 I have serious doubts about the effectiveness of the wipes.  99.9% effective leaves a competition free area in which to thrive for the .1% that were tough enough to survive.

#B I'd rather cope with the bugs around me than undertake a futile effort to avoid them, only to be hammered by the ones that get through.

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There was a study done recently that showed that shopping carts are particularly disgusting.  That area where people put their babies was typically filthy with lots of fecal contamination.  If you want to dip your hands into other peoples' crap, go ahead.

Exactly!  I have seen many an infant hand in their diaper and noses picked then the hands go back on the handle.  I don't mind being reasonably exposed to virus but I don't want flu's and e-coli from a friken shopping cart.

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What's bad about it?

It looks like they took a pic of a girl in a bathing suit and Photochopped in the butt of a darker skinned woman.  Unless that girl is into some kind of reverse sun tanning thing. 

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It looks like they took a pic of a girl in a bathing suit and Photochopped in the butt of a darker shinned woman.  Unless that girl is into some kind of reverse sun tanning thing. 

Who cares about her shins?

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Without cooties, we wouldn't have better, cootie-resistant immune systems.

That's the thing I don't get about being a germophobe.  If you attempt as much as possible to shield yourself from germs, you will never adapt to overcome them --and since you are guaranteed to be exposed at some point whether you like it or not, why not ensure you develop a few immunities along the way?  Better to get sick once in awhile than a lot sicker very rarely.

I mean, I'm not suggesting one expose themselves to Level 3 biohazards, but seriously, unless you live in a specially designed house with negative pressure, with industrial level filtering, and never leave it...and then you're going to have pretty much zero fun.

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