Should shopping carts be sanitized?

by Bethany Sanders (Subscribe to Bethany Sanders's posts) Sep 29th 2008 4:00PM

Categories: Babies, Toddlers, Health & Safety, Chores

Just how dangerous are shopping carts to kids? It depends on who you ask.

Shopping carts have become the next battleground in the war on germs. Grocery stores now offer antibacterial wipes and disposable covers for shopping cart handles, while parents can also lug in cotton covers that prevent their baby from ever actually having contact with the shopping cart their riding in.

New technology offers retailers another option -- a sort of car wash for carts. For a mere(!) $700 a month, retailers can lease a system that sanitizes the whole cart.

But is all this flurry and worry really necessary? One study found that infants who ride in a cart next to packages of raw poultry and meat are at an increased risk of developing salmonella. But other pediatricians say that all this fear over germs can actually backfire. Kids need to be exposed to germs and bacteria to build up a healthy immune system.

Because both of my girls are healthy and don't have any chronic health issues, I've never given shopping carts a second thought. We wash our hands on a regular basis, but we don't use any anti-bacterial products or shopping cart covers. But I see plenty of moms who do. Where do you stand on this issue?

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Comments (15)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Sabrina 9-29-2008 @ 5:00PM

Other- I would like to see them at least hosed off once in a while because they're visibly dirty, and I don't love putting my hands on things like that. I count them in the same category as public restrooms or public phones. EVERYTHING could use a good wash now and again, you know? As far as germs, I'm not completely freaked out by the thought of my kids sitting in a shopping cart, however I strongly discourage them from putting their mouths on it, or putting their hands in their mouths. I still wipe them to remove food residue because both my kids are allergic to several foods.

ame s 9-29-2008 @ 6:09PM

My kids haven't fit into shopping carts for several years now, but I do wipe them down even when I am alone. We are also in the habit of washing our hands as soon as we get home from any outing. I wash even after going to the ATM or the drive through at the bank.

Jill 9-29-2008 @ 8:54PM

My daughter is 4 months old - so not quite ready to sit upright in a shopping cart - and we recently went shopping with a friend of mine that works in a major grocery chain here in Michigan. She told me that at their particular store, the employees use the carts to take out the trash - including expired meats and produce. She said it tends to leak all over the carts when they haul it outside, and that was enough to convince me that we are definitely going to be a shopping cart-cover family.

ninainindia 9-29-2008 @ 9:46PM

The world is getting crazier every day. There is no need for wipes or covers on a shopping cart, it's also not necesary to wash your hands immediately after. I can't believe the stores are actually accomodating these over the top parents, who are making the goods more expensive by their behaviour.

LS 9-29-2008 @ 10:33PM

Remind me again exactly WHY the Human Body has an immune system? And HOW does that immune system get stronger?

Right on both counts - fighting germs.

I don't let my son chew on the shopping carts, but neither do I scrub him down after using them. I have wet wipes in the car, but only use them when he's sticky, or after a particularly dirty day (playing in dirt, sand, etc.)

I firmly believe that he's as healthy as he is BECAUSE I've allowed him to be exposed to those germs.

I will be seriously ticked off if my food prices go up even more than they already are because helicopter parents are such germophobes.

Marla 9-30-2008 @ 12:02AM

I agree we should expose our children to germs to a degree, but it never hurts to take a wipe to the cart.
As for the stores paying to clean them??? Nah, that charge just gets passed on to the consumer, and at this rate, we pay enough for our groceries.

MojraL 9-30-2008 @ 6:13AM

I'm a grandmother now, and of course when my daughter was young, it never occurred to anyone to wipe down a cart. That said, with my grandchildren, we did wipe them down when they were too little to keep their mouths off the carts. Just sort of grossed us out to think of them gnawing on this! And we did use a cart cover with one of my grandkids-- not to keep her from touching the cart, but because she hated the way the cart felt on her legs. She would scream and try to climb out at that age (she was one, so you couldn't exactly reason with her).

grimmmey 9-30-2008 @ 9:25AM

I used the shopping cart cover when my daughter was still a baby (she is only 2 now but still not a baby), less as a cover for germs and more for her comfort. I avoid the extremely gross carts, simply because they are gross and I wouldn't use them even if I was alone but I definitely feel our children need to be exposed to real world germs in order to keep a healthy immune system. My daughter regularly gets food that has dropped on to the floor into her mouth before I can catch up....and that is at the doctors office where even the doctors are grossed out. But, she hasn't caught anything and at this rate she will be the healthiest kid around!

Rob O. 9-30-2008 @ 9:47AM

We received a shopping cart cover as a shower gift and used it exactly once. What a PITA! My wie's a bit of a freakish germophobe, so I wipe the basket handle down when possible, but I'm in the "expose him now, so he can build up his immune system for later" camp.

On a related note, I've heard quite a bit lately about the benefits of exposing children to (kid-friendly) animals. The contention is - and it seems reasonable to me - that we had fewer problems when we were kids because we were exposed to more of this sort of stuff. But many of today's kids are isolated in urban areas and never have exposure to farm-like settings. We've also been advised that food from local area farms - meat, dairy, veggies, even locally-harvested honey - is better for boosting your child's immune system. Anyone else hearing much about that?

LS 9-30-2008 @ 9:59AM

Locally harvested honey is especially good for your immune system. Personal experience: when I was about five (I'm 38 now), I developed a scratchy cough. Meds didn't help, and my doctor said that it was likely an allergy, so he told my mom to go find the most locally-grown honey he could find, and feed me a teaspoon per day. She did that, and not only did my cough go away, I have no allergies to this day.

I'm not saying that honey is a miracle cure, but it stands to reason that the small amounts of environmental "stuff" in locally harvested honey (and other foods) would introduce your immune system to them, and help your body develop the defenses it needs. And it's a heck of a lot tastier than a bottle of Germ-x!

Kirstie 9-30-2008 @ 11:50AM

Local honey is GREAT if you or your child are prone to allergies. I've always had pretty wretched seasonal allergies, compounded by my asthma. If you consume honey made in your local area, you build up somewhat of an immunity to the local pollen in your area.

Yes, local honey is a little more expensive then the bear in the supermarket, but for me it's worth the extra couple of dollars - it really does help to keep me breathing in the spring months.

FitBlogger 10-01-2008 @ 1:18PM

Sanitizing a shopping cart is a good idea. God knows what sort of germs are taking up residence on those things. Still, to spend $700 on a cart-cleaning system is outrageous, especially when the germs on the cart should be the least of people's concerns. It's what's IN the cart these days that's causing the greatest problems for families across the country.

Check out the article "Size Does Matter" over on I Look Like Fit (www.ilooklikefit.com), which explains how certain shopping habits can lead to overeating and significant weight gain.

Thanks!

Dianna 10-08-2008 @ 11:45PM

I use a shopping cart cover but not because of germs. It's because it has toys that occupy my 22 month old. And a back pillow to make her more comfortable. We wash our hands after the park, before meals. that kind of thing. She's never ever sick, and she even goes to a daycare center for about 4 hours a week.

jdmelzo 10-14-2008 @ 11:59AM

My 3 year old has MCAD and what may seem like a small illness to the average child, can put our son in the hospital. You can not tell just by looking at him, he looks like the average child. You do not know what germs are on the cart. We always wipe it down (not just the handle, but anywhere we may pick up germs). Some people give us a look like we are being paranoid, but it could literally be a matter of life or death in our family. We always wash our hands after being in a store.

KAZ 11-07-2008 @ 10:01PM

It is intensely unhealthy to avoid exposure to bacteria. One more or less dooms their child to a life full of illness, as their immune system ends up too weak to stand up to /inevitable/ exposures.

It's amusing to see some parents allow their kids to touch everything, play in dirt, et cetera, with no sanitization, AND no ill effects, and other parents say, in horror "you're just lucky it's not my children, I have to sanitize everything and keep them away from germs, they get sick soy much more easily!"

That is WHY they get ill so easily.

It's called the Hygiene Hypothesis, and studies support it: Sanitizing childrens' environments makes their systems weak, causing them to get ill more often.

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