72% of Grocery Carts Test Positive for Fecal Bacteria

I would think that the exposure to bacteria is a key part of developing an immune system.

You should always challange yourself when you happy and healthy.

Originally posted by raknjak
People should REALLY wash their hands after going to the toilet.

Of course, but the common order of events is:
- turn on tap, contaminating tap with fecal matter,
- wash hands carefully,
- turn tap off, recontaminating hands with fecal matter.

...and I thought our dogpark was dirty...

www.bloomberg.com...

"100,000 tons of human excrement that Indians leave each day in fields of potatoes, carrots and spinach, on banks that line rivers used for drinking and bathing and along roads jammed with scooters, trucks and pedestrians.

75 percent of the country’s surface water is contaminated by human and agricultural waste and industrial effluent. Everyone in Indian cities is at risk of consuming human feces, if they’re not already, the Ministry of Urban Development concluded in September."

George Constanza was right when he didn't want to use a public bathroom in India. "I just walk it off..."

"The toll on human health is grim. Every day, 1,000 children younger than 5 years old die in India from diarrhea, hepatitis- causing pathogens and other sanitation-related diseases, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund.
... more than half of India’s 203 million households lack what Western societies consider a necessity: a toilet.

Originally posted by MysticPearl
What about us men who don't carry handbags?

Come on, MysticPearl! Man up. Everyone knows that a "satchel" is perfectly fashionable.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/bb6b78ece6b5.jpg[/atsimg]

reply to post by Frogs


Really.... dirtier & nastier than the toilet rooms ?

you ain't seen the crappers i have seen
i shop between 2 SE Regional grocery chains...a Bi place and a Food place
both of them are sorta clean----in the morning hours

the Bi store offers sanitary wipes as one selects their carts...its up to you to use the free wipes provided
All Well & Good...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Why is this an issue... sane people should always wipe their hands after touching public
apparatus, including shopping carts and them stinking dollar bills full of crack/crank/etc. residues

the best sanitizing experience i have found is to stop by a local Pub where they sanitize the beer mugs,
and that will likely kill any germs you carried away from touching them nasty shopping cart plastic handles.

Salute !

Originally posted by Gradius Maximus
Wait - These are American grocery carts, right?

In Canada we are taught to wash our hands, or at least I was.

Is there ANYTHING the world doesn't hate Americans for?

Guess what folks fecal matter is al around us! The mythbusters did a test on just that, your not safe ANYWHERE, not even in Canada!

www.youtube.com...

LOL... Good!

Nothing like some fecal matter to help build up the immune system. You could actually use it with all the chemical warfare going on these days... Germaphobes... lol.

If the carts test that positive, imasgine the food? My grocer does provide wipe stations at then cart area.
I had a conversation with a few friends on this.
Just think of everything people touch that could be really diseased? ATM,s Casino slot machines,all doors,
anything another human touches practically. Scary proposition.

reply to post by Frogs


The safeway grocery store near my house provides anti bacterial wipes next to the cart area. I have also been to a target once that did the same.

reply to post by bphi1908


Actually, the person has a valid point. There have been some informal studies, and Canadians are way more likely to wash their hands before leaving the bathroom than Americans are.

i'd hate to see mcdonald's results on this test.

Don't lick the grocery carts.

Originally posted by Aeons
reply to post by bphi1908

 

Actually, the person has a valid point. There have been some informal studies, and Canadians are way more likely to wash their hands before leaving the bathroom than Americans are.

For the love of GOD man!! Show me a "formal study" backing that up. What is an informal study anyway, one done by you and your roommate?

Originally posted by bphi1908

Originally posted by Aeons
reply to post by bphi1908

 

Actually, the person has a valid point. There have been some informal studies, and Canadians are way more likely to wash their hands before leaving the bathroom than Americans are.

For the love of GOD man!! Show me a "formal study" backing that up. What is an informal study anyway, one done by you and your roommate?

No, I believe that this one has been done by several universities' students, filming in public washrooms with the cameras pointing at the sinks.

I think that one of them was even featured on the Oprah show at one point. Though I don't think that one specifically was comparing the difference between Americans and Canadians on the subject.

There are many studies on this issue. Its a disease management and education issue, so you can find scholarly articles on it. I don't know if I can find the stats I saw quite a few years ago. I'll give it a go and see if someone's got'em on the interwebz.

Oh looky - I found one.

findarticles.com...

In 2003, a survey sponsored by the American Society of Microbiology (ASM, 2003) found that almost one-quarter (22.6%) of observed travelers (N = 7,541) passing through five major U.S. and one Canadian airport failed to wash their hands after using public washrooms. Specifically, average noncompliance with hand washing among travelers observed in U.S. airports was over one-quarter (26.3%), whereas in Toronto, Canada, a city that experienced a major SARS outbreak the same year, noncompliance was only 4.0%.

Just as well I get all my shopping online and delivered but made me realise about those handrails on trains and in train stations too. In Sydney they are NEVER cleaned.

All Stores I've been in---Kroger, Publix, Target all have Sani wipes next to carts at all times....
You don't need a 'study' to know anything tons of humans touch daily is going to be filthy..

Like bathroom door handles.. most are more dirty than a swap from INSIDE a toilet bowl.
And Avoid touching magazines in ER's or 'Urgent care' clinics, as all the sick folks touch them may have different strains of a virus or worse. ugh.

Oh.. and bowling ball holes.... I don't even wanna go there.

Originally posted by Wertdagf
I would think that the exposure to bacteria is a key part of developing an immune system.
You should always challange yourself when you happy and healthy.

Not entirely true... I haven't been sick since the mid 90's with any virus/bacterial infection, and I use purell sometimes when I'm out.. Don't OVER USE it though.. you do indeed need the 'good' bacteria too...

But going blindly into risky situations isn't smart. If you can avoid being sick, that is a GOOD thing.

I'm sure that these carts would have also tested positive for mercury, lead, and cyanide, with a detectable dose of various radioactive isotopes, "mouth" bacteria, more viruses than we have catalogs of, and, in all likelihood. some genetic material from Kevin Bacon.

This is because all these things are completely pervasive in the environment. Those cart corrals out in the parking lot? Not only are they subject to bird bombings, but they are also in a dust-heavy environment; dirt from the erosion of the asphalt, dirt from the cars themselves (inside and out), dirt and dust blown in on the wind, you name it. and all of this is laden with bacteria, viruses, chemicals, spores, detritus, all sorts of things.

When you see a headline like this, also remember that something like 70% of Americans have a highly dangerous microbe responsible for most serious hospital infections... living in their nose (Streptococcus aurelius) and that most concrete is just chock full of toxic and radioactive materials of some sort.

The world is a gross place. This is why nature has endowed you with an immune system. A little grunge on your shopping cart isn't going to kill you. Unless you have a habit of licking your hands (in which case, stop, you're part of the problem!) these contaminants will never affect you.

You'd think they would clean the carts hey? or they probably being a southern state Mexicans probably clean them. they always do a good job. lol