3 years ago
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A Little Rock lawmaker thinks he's found a way to keep a trip to the grocery store from making you sick.
Just the thought of going grocery shopping gives many of us a headache, but some say the chore can literally make you sick.
Michelle Roberts is a registered nurse and an expert in infection control.
She says, "This time of year, especially, you worry about the flu, respiratory viruses in children. A lot of people have heard about the resistant staff infections that go around in athletic facilities and prisons. Those are just some of the bacteria and viruses that can live on hard surfaces that are touched a lot by hands."
That includes shopping cart handles, says Roberts, who is an expert in infection control.
Thursday she spoke in favor of Rep. Fred Allen?s bill to make sanitation wipes available to customers at all grocery stores. (See link.)
Rep. Fred Allen, D-Little Rock, says, "I don't do much grocery shopping and I didn't realize how much germs and bacteria are on shopping carts."
"I was very surprised to find out that a man had introduced this bill," says Roberts.
Allen admits it wasn't his idea, "Some elderly constituents brought it to my attention and they challenged me to go and look at shopping carts and at the time I thought it was a joke." Allen has since realized there's nothing funny about the filthiness of shopping cart handles.
"What I?ve learned through this experience is that people, grocery stores, don't clean shopping carts. They just don't clean them," Allen says.
His idea is to ask grocers to voluntarily follow the lead of stores like Wild Oats in Little Rock.
Wild Oats Marketing Director Charlotte Hall says, "We have them available right at the front, right next to the carts." Shoppers we talked with say the anti-bacterial wipes make a difference.
Mary Jett McCampbell of Benton says, "I definitely think that is a very good idea because as a college student, I took microbiology and we took several swab tests and you wouldn't believe how much stuff would be growing on a plate."
Allen says, "Actually, health care is the No. 1 concern in the state of Arkansas and there could be the possibility that serious contamination exists on shopping carts and if we know that and we can prevent that from happening then I think that's a step in the right direction."
Allen?s bill now goes to the House for a full vote. If it becomes law, it would not be required?it is only voluntary. To give you an idea of how much it would cost a grocery store. Wild Oats says on average they spend about $2,000 a year on the sanitation wipes.
