Wash your Reusable Bags!

This from the Washington Post:

Reusable bags found to be dirty

A reminder to shoppers who use reusable grocery bags: Don't forget to wash them after you've emptied them.

Nearly every bag examined for bacteria by researchers at the University of Arizona and Loma Linda University found whopping amounts of bugs. Coliform bacteria, suggesting raw-meat or uncooked-food contamination, was in half of the bags, and E. coli was found in 12 percent of the bags.

Running the bags through a washer or cleaning them by hand reduced bacteria levels to almost nothing, the study reported, but nearly all shoppers questioned said they do not regularly, if ever, wash their reusable bags. About a third said they also used their food-shopping bags to haul around non-food items.

The study was funded by the American Chemistry Council amid debate over a California bill that would ban single-use plastic bags. The council is opposed to that measure.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/24/AR2010062406143.html

Eat Local Food USA made tote bags are reusable and washable and we DO recommend you wash them regularly - especially if you use them for grocery shopping. We recommend you turn your Eat Local Food Tote Bag inside out and wash it on a cold water setting. Leaving it turned inside out, it can be put in your clothes dryer on a low heat setting. We've washed our bags many, many times and the designs hold up beautifully! You can view available in stock designs at www.eatlocalfoodstore.com.

Interested in customizing your Eat Local Food bag? Add your name, logo or slogan to one of our designs - many of our banner designs (see our web store) can also be used for tote bags. Call us at 734.341.7028 if you have questions or would like a custom quote.