Re-Useable Grocery Bags? Unintended Consequences?

There is a column in the editorial section of the Denver Post this morning claiming that towns that have banned disposable plastic grocery bags are seeing an increase in disease. It seems people never bother washing their reusable bags and the juices from raw meat are contaminating produce. Do posters here wash your bags? And how often? I use the reusable bags but only in non-grocery settings like book and hardware stores.

I use the reusable bags for just about everything except groceries. And I wash them all the time. I shop at Sam's and Costco so I get boxes. (I burn them). The few groceries I get locally, I just carry to the car in the cart.

We use the canvas bags all the time for groceries - except meat, eggs and milk. Those go into plastic bags. Well, the eggs sometimes go in the canvas ones, but if an egg breaks we make sure to wash the bag right away.

Would washing them often be worse for the enviroment than just throwing away disposables with energy and water consumption?

To me, it looks like the best solution is a mix, use the re-usable bags for some groceries and the disposable for meat and other. And I use the disposable ones for dogs and for trash bucket liners.

My prediction.

1. Some pompous blowhards in Congress will give some speeches, making sure they are televised on CSPAN
2. Set up a commission to study the issue in Congress.
3. Grant $100M to the FDA and EPA to study the problem for 2 years and recommend a law.
4. Campaign for safer grocery bags in the next election cycle..
5. Require 10 hours of mandatory training for all grocery clerks to properly bag dangerous foods.
6. Require that all check out lanes post warning signs of a proper size and font.
7. Install UV ovens in all stores to cook bags and kill germs.
8. Charge a 10% tax on all re-usable bags to fund all of the above.
9. Appoint a new grocery-bag safety Czar in the FDA administration.
10.

Did I miss anything?

I actually like the idea of training the baggers.

Because if I am using disposable and re-usable, it means I would be bagging myself to avoid cross-contamination.

They always throw my soap and toilet paper in the same bag as the food since I buy so little stuff.

I use all the plastic bags for garbage anyway, why should I buy extra plastic garbage bags instead. WTF

It's just an old idea made new again.........cotton mesh grocery sacks have been around for a VERY long time. The REAL problem is
common sense and the LACK of paying attention to details.

IF you really think about it, how OFTEN do those conveyor belts( in the grocery stores) get a COMPLETE and sterilized cleaning? (clue
NOT that often).......(use to be a courtesy clerk,so I KNOW)

I guess I need to define "wash all the time". They get washed when needed. When they all need to be washed, or when another load is going. I only have 20 or so reusable bags (i keep finding them in the strangest places), so each one doesnt really get used that often.

I wash the reusables as needed, meat and milk go in the plastic bags from the store. I reuse the plastic bags that don't have holes for woodstove ash and cat litter, donate the others to IMHS for the thrift store.

The baggers at Kings don't like to take "no thank you" for an answer, but we insist on bagging our own groceries so they get done the way WE want.