CART attack

Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Dec 29, 2005 by CAROL McGRAW THE GAZETTE

Dianna Emmou is grossed out by the grungy things seen and unseen on the typical grocery cart handlebar.

So she keeps her baby, Frank, in his stroller and stuffs her groceries in the the storage shelf underneath. And if her shopping list is too long, she pushes the stroller and pulls a shopping cart, using the cuff of her sweater like a pair of gloves.

"I guess I'm a little obsessed," Emmou says, "but I'd never put my baby in one of those."

Epidemiologists would probably say she's wise, not wacky. Scientific studies have found all sorts of potentially dangerous bacteria lurking on shopping carts -- cold and flu germs, salmonella, strep, hepatitis B and even E. coli from leaky diapers.

Ick. It's enough to make you stay at home, or at least carry a box of surgical gloves to the store.

But several grocery chains are trying to make it easier for customers to engage in germ warfare: They're supplying moistened disinfectant wipes so people can grab one on their way in and decontaminate the carts to their heart's content.

"With all the flu and colds going around our customers really appreciate them," says James Borders, assistant service manager at Wild Oats, where cart seats are also wiped down throughout the day.

The wipes are so popular, it's hard for stores to keep their dispensers stocked.

"We have to fill it at least once a day," says Debbie Rodriquez, head clerk at King Soopers on Cheyenne Meadows Road, which put in a dispenser a few months ago.

The trend goes hand-in-hand with the burgeoning popularity of such anti-bacterial items as soaps, lotions and gels, as well as other prophylactic products. Parents have no qualms about laying out $60 for a Buggy Bag or $40 for a Floppy Sheet, which they can plop over the cart to protect their kids.

"They are really big sellers," says Ken Olson, assistant manager at Babies "R" Us. "Parents don't want their chil- dren chewing on the cart bars or sitting in dirty seats."

But it's not just the sticky candy, spilled pop, crumpled candy- bar wrappers and used tissues that turn shopping carts into Superfund sites. A study by the University of Arizona Research Laboratory found that 21 percent of shopping carts tested contained bodily fluids of various kinds, and such microbes as staphylococcus anureus, streptococcus pneumonia, E. coli and hepatitis B. Bacteria from meat and poultry, such as salmonella, have also been found. Another study done for the television show Inside Edition found several types of bacteria and fungus that children spread quickly to their eyes and mouths.

No wonder the wipes are multiplying like winter colds.

Wipes are a $1.5 billion business nationwide and growing about 6 percent a year, says John Luposello, product manager for New York- based Nice-Pak Products Inc. Their product, SaniCart Wipe, found at the disinfectant stations at Wild Oats, King Soopers and other stores, was introduced at the Food Marketing Institute's trade show in 2004 and was named the Best New Product of the Year by FMI.

"I've never seen anything like it. The phone hasn't stopped ringing," says Luposello, a certified food-safety manager with the National Registry of Food Safety Professionals. The average store uses a case and a half per month, he says, at a cost of about $80.

The Environmental Protection Agencyhas certified that the product is effective against certain flu, staphyloccocus aureus, salmonella (food contaminant), E. coli (associated with diarrhea, cramps and occasional kidney failure), herpes simplex virus type 2 (genital virus), and pseudomonas aeruginosa (associated with infections of skin, respiratory and gastro-intestinal tracts, cardiovascular problems, nosocomial pneumonia and uroital tract).

And that has sold a lot of people on the wipes. "They come in and say, oh, good, you have them. They especially use them during flu and cold season," says Brad Eveland, a store manager at a local Albertsons, which uses its own brand of disinfectant wipes.

Still, some shoppers, including engineer Roy Rodvold, see the wipes as overkill. Shopping recently at Albertsons, he said he doesn't use the free wipes. "It's a good idea, but I don't use them. I figure I wash my hands enough."

He'll have a hard time convincing Emmou that the wipes are superfluous. They might even be enough to get her to use grocery carts on subsequent shopping trips.

"Every single store should have these," Emmou said.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0371 or carol.mcgraw@gazette.com

KEEP YOUR GERMS TO YOURSELF

Want to practice proper respiratory etiquette? Here are tips from "The Germ Freak's Guide to Outwitting Colds and Flu" on how how you can keep from spreading your germs:

Cover your mouth with a tissue when you sneeze or cough and throw the tissue away.

If you don't have a tissue, cough or sneeze into your elbow sleeve, not your hand.

Wash your hands often with soap and water and always after you cough or sneeze.

Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer when you can't wash with regular soap and water.