KOMPAS.com - Reusable shopping bags harbour potentially deadly bugs and could threaten public health, say scientists. Tests on shoppers' bags revealed that half contained traces of the lethal toxin E.coli, which killed 26 people in Scotland in 1996 in one of the world's worst food-poisoning outbreaks.
The scientists also found many bags were contaminated with salmonella. They say reusable bags must be washed regularly at high temperature to kill bugs left by the packaging from raw meat.
The level of bacteria they found was high enough to 'cause a wide range of serious health problems and even death', particularly to children. The tests were carried out by experts at the University of Arizona, who stopped 84 shoppers to check the state of their bags.
The popularity of reusable 'eco-friendly' bags has soared in Britain as the growth in recycling means fewer consumers use disposable plastic bags. But experts fear unwashed bags could pose a health threat.
Professor Charles Gerba, who led the study, said: 'Our findings suggest a serious threat to public health, especially from bacteria such as E.coli.
'Consumers are alarmingly unaware of these risks and the critical need to sanitise their bags weekly.'
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