I have to deal with this every day at my work

jimpeel

Well-Known Member
We have a relatively new customer to the store who brings in these canvas bags which are filthy. They smell of mold and mildew and they look and feel oily. They look like they have been rolling around on a garage floor. His personal hygiene is nothing to brag about either.

We call him the "Dirty Bag Man". Most of us have had him come through our line.

I asked my manager if we can refuse to service those bags and she said "No". I asked her if she could elevate that and she did. She got with me the next day and said upper management had stated that even though they know that these bags are going to be a health concern we have to service them anyway until the problem manifests itself on a greater than one store level.

:eek13:

The main problem I have had to face with the bags is dog and cat hair. People place the bags in their cars, so they will be there when they go to the store, and then they transport their dogs. One customer told me that she puts them in the house and her cat likes to lay on them.

One day, I had a customer come through with bags covered in dog hair so badly that I had to close my lane after they left and clean myself and my register. I was covered in hair and so was the entire area.

I actually asked her "Is this dog or cat hair?" and she responded very matter-of-factly "Dog."

I know that at least one of the responses to this thread will be "Well, look at who funded the study: The Canadian Plastics Industry Association." That does not negate the fact that the bacteria is there.

I am considering asking to transfer to another department so that I no longer have to deal with these bags. I'm too old to be getting sick from other people's neglect.

SOURCE

Back to plastic? Reusable grocery bags may cause food poisoning
Posted: May 20, 2009, 11:00 AM by Karen Hawthorne
plastic bags, health, environment

Get out your bleach and launder those reusable fabric grocery bags after each use. You're not clogging up landfill with plastic throw-aways, but your environmental conscientiousness could make you sick.

A microbiological study — a first in North America — of the popular, eco-friendly bags has uncovered some unsettling facts. Swab-testing by two independent laboratories found unacceptably high levels of bacterial, yeast, mold and coliform counts in the reusable bags.

"The main risk is food poisoning," Dr. Richard Summerbell, research director at Toronto-based Sporometrics and former chief of medical mycology for the Ontario Ministry of Health, stated in a news release. Dr. Summerbell evaluated the study results.

"But other significant risks include skin infections such as bacterial boils, allergic reactions, triggering of asthma attacks, and ear infections," he stated.

The study found that 64% of the reusable bags tested were contaminated with some level of bacteria and close to 30% had elevated bacterial counts higher than what's considered safe for drinking water.

Further, 40% of the bags had yeast or mold, and some of the bags had an unacceptable presence of coliforms, faecal intestinal bacteria, when there should have been 0.

"The presence of faecal material in some of the reusable bags is particularly concerning," Dr. Summerbell stated. "All meat products should be individually wrapped before being placed in a reusable bag to prevent against leakage. This should become a mandated safety standard across the entire grocery industry."

Don't use your cloth grocery bags for toting gym clothes or diapers or anything but your groceries to prevent possible exposure to a superbug called community-acquired MRSA, a highly antibiotic-resistant form of a common infectious bacterium, Dr. Summerbell cautioned.

The study was funded by the Environment and Plastics Industry Council (EPIC), an industry initiative to promote responsible use and recovery of plastic resources. EPIC is a committee of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association.

Conclusions from the study? This may have you gladly handing over the coins for plastic bags at the supermarket:

• The moist, dark, warm interior of a folded used reusable bag that has acquired a small amount of water and trace food contamination is an ideal incubator for bacteria.

• The strong presence of yeasts in some bags indicates the presence of water and microbial growth substrate (food).

• There is a potential for cross-contamination of food if the same reusable bags are used on successive trips.

• Check-out staff in stores may be transferring these microbes from reusable bag to reusable bag as the contaminants get on their hands.

• In cases of food poisoning, experts will have to test reusable bags in addition to food products as the possible sources of contamination.

Next steps? The study has been sent to the federal Sub-Committee on Food Safety currently investigating the safety of Canada's food system, federal and provincial health ministers and medical organizations across Canada with a request for immediate action.

[Photo: Galen G. Weston, Loblaw executive chairman (right) loads groceries into new PC Green Reusable Shopping Bags at a Loblaws store in downtown Toronto, Wednesday, May 9, 2007. Loblaw has pledged to eliminate one billion plastic shopping bags in 2007. Credit: Canwest News Service]
 

BeardofPants

New Member
Like anything, you gotta be sensible about using them. I keep them in the cupboard away from the cat. If I'm transporting anything that may be problematic bacteria-wise (e.g. meat), the meat gets wrapped in a smaller plastic bag rather than mixing directly with the other products.
 

Professur

Well-Known Member
This made the radio news yesterday morning. They're suggesting that you always use the same bag for meat to prevent contaminating other foods. Brilliant. Hey, now that the recycled paper industry is at full steam, can we go back to paper bags?
 

catocom

Well-Known Member
Like anything, you gotta be sensible about using them. I keep them in the cupboard away from the cat. If I'm transporting anything that may be problematic bacteria-wise (e.g. meat), the meat gets wrapped in a smaller plastic bag rather than mixing directly with the other products.

you want everybody to be sensible?:rofl2:
 

catocom

Well-Known Member
This made the radio news yesterday morning. They're suggesting that you always use the same bag for meat to prevent contaminating other foods. Brilliant. Hey, now that the recycled paper industry is at full steam, can we go back to paper bags?

still got um, just gotta ask.
 

catocom

Well-Known Member
on a side note.....
Sorry jim, but I've cut wall-mart off atm.
They ain't doin' right again. They've strayed from what the old man had setup, in a negative direction.

Still use sams when I have to though.
 

Professur

Well-Known Member
That's ok. They'll happily sell you bags, or even tote bins ... made of plastic and sporting the three arrowed triangle. I`m not quite sure how that's more environmentally friendly than plastic bags that disintegrate to powder when exposed to sunlight for more than a week, but I'm sure they know what they're doing.
 

Dave

Well-Known Member
His personal hygiene is nothing to brag about either..... "Dirty Bag Man".... I'm too old to be getting sick from other people's neglect....

hahahahaha


Sorry...I found that amusing.

Don't come to work with me...

Not making light of your complaint either. Just found it amusing is all.
 

2minkey

bootlicker
so, jim, you haven't actually gotten sick?

and you're expecting even moderate levels of personal hygiene among wal-mart shoppers?

people are dirty. wash your hands. deal with it.

kinda sensitive, aren't ya?
 

catocom

Well-Known Member
:headbng2:

I don't know why so many can't find some comedy in conversation, without
being condescending.:glasses:
 

MrBishop

Well-Known Member
That's ok. They'll happily sell you bags, or even tote bins ... made of plastic and sporting the three arrowed triangle. I`m not quite sure how that's more environmentally friendly than plastic bags that disintegrate to powder when exposed to sunlight for more than a week, but I'm sure they know what they're doing.
ROFL - I just did a training on plastics and P&P applications yesterday and Wednesday afternoon.

Okay-the 'disintegrate to powders' bags are blown-out low-density polyethylene. Not UV resistant at all...and yes, assuming that they're on top of the pile, they will disintegrate..but they certainly don't disappear. You can still find the particles in your local water table or blowing in the wind. LDPE is partially recycleable..but only once. After one R-cycle, it's useless.

The other reuse bags (and bins) are likely Polypropolene, also thermoplastics but with a better re-cycle rate (melt, reform, reuse). Unlike the polyethylene, it can go through far more than 1 cycle. Thais is why the new bags and bins are better.

Paper - the bags are mostly recycled paper..close to 60%. Anything more doesn't contain enough long fibers to stay intact. It's still 40% new paper, and unlike the plastics, it can't be recycled any further... that is, you can put it through the process, but the fibers are too short to reuse. At best, they end up in landfill and degrade to mulch and earth. You still have to cut down trees for those nice recycled paper bags, plus put them through the bacterial and chemical digesters, bleaches etc.. before you can reuse them.

The best would be to go with a cellulose polymer bag... fully degradeable and far more GREEN than any of the others.
 

MrBishop

Well-Known Member
Um ... when did you ever see bleached paper grocery bags?
It's part of the 60-step process... even the 'brown paper bags' are mixed in with fresh stock and the whole lot is treated..and then bleached and then (Get this..you'll love it) - the recycled paper soup is colored to brown and oversized pulp is added to give it the look of unprocessed paper.

It looks more like recycled paper, eh. Marketing :D
 

Professur

Well-Known Member
Y'know, when I was a kid, my Grandma knit us a bag out of that crap everyone makes slippers outta and braids around coat hangers.... for carrying the heavy gallon of milk home from the corner store. I think I might still have it about.
 

MrBishop

Well-Known Member
Ask the church mice - you can buy that yarn cheap and do a church event for making'em and selling them at the next bazaar.
 

Inkara1

Well-Known Member
Are the reusable cloth bags washable?

As for plastic bags, I reuse mine... ones without any holes in the bottom get used for holding what I scoop out of the cat box, ones with holes in the bottom are luggage.
 

MrBishop

Well-Known Member
Are the reusable cloth bags washable?

As for plastic bags, I reuse mine... ones without any holes in the bottom get used for holding what I scoop out of the cat box, ones with holes in the bottom are luggage.
Pretty much, yeah. The plastic ones... I'll have to check the Data Sheets to see what the temp rating are. They should be.
 
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