Cross-contamination at checkout

Posted: April 27th, 2009 - 9:22am by Amy Hubbell

Katie and I were craving hamburgers this weekend and Doug decided to indulge us. At the supermarket on Saturday he picked up some ground beef along with our normal cart full of produce and other proteins. As usual, I tried to separate the items in the cart so that the fresh produce was not touching the beef, pork, or salmon filets, even though all the meat was wrapped.

Checkout on Saturdays is always busy, and with a baby, a shopper’s plus card, a payment method, eco-friendly shopping bags, and chatter with the cashiers and baggers, there are plenty of distractions. On this particular day, the new store manager was bagging our items and complementing Doug on his culinary ability: “I can see you must be a good cook because those items require skill.” I chimed in with full-hearted agreement. Doug’s an awesome cook.

In the meantime, as the hamburger was being passed over the scale and scanner, juice poured out all over the place. I watched the cashier and was about to say something, but she pulled out a sanitary wipe and cleaned her hands. She then proceeded to pass every one of our produce items over the scale and through the hamburger juice. I felt like I should say something but wanted Doug to be the bad ass. And as I stood there stunned, not wanting the store manager to fire the woman, she completed our transaction and was on to the next person.

As soon as we exited the store, I declared we would have to wash every piece of produce in the bags. It didn’t even occur to me until later that the following person’s items were also going to pass over that potentially E.coli-laden scale. And maybe the same thing had already happened five times before we arrived. Maybe we were already at risk before our hamburger leaked all over.

It’s important to wash fresh fruits and vegetables to remove external contamination, because you never know where it’s been. Once your produce is exposed, it can contaminate other items in your bag or at home. Even if you are a careful consumer, it’s difficult to know just where that tomato has been.

(P.S. Doug cooked the burgers to a perfect 160F and they were delicious.)

Categories: E. coli, Food Safety Policy, Handwashing
Tags: Cross-contamination, Grocery Cart, Hamburger, Produce, Produce Safety, Raw Beef

Comments

gharkness says:

Looks to me like it doesn't matter HOW well you cook the meat; if the produce is contaminated with the meat juices, washing isn't enough. You either have to cook it to 160 degrees too, or risk contamination. I'm thinking lettuce, for example. You could peel the tomato and onion (if those are what you bought), but there's no help for the lettuce....Am I mistaken? I am assuming all is well and you didn't get sick.

Posted on April 27th, 2009 - 11:33am

crs says:

That's the ultimate check-out horror story. I usually put meat items in plastic bags to be on the safe side. I bag fresh produce for the same reason. I also leave the meat items till last to minimize contact with my other groceries (which doesn't help the person behind me, but I can't cover for everyone). On the downside, I'm not doing the environment any good with all those plastic bags.

Posted on April 27th, 2009 - 3:01pm

creeker says:

I just had an experience with lack of food safety knowledge in grocery checkout staff. I bring my own bags, but I always buy plastic for my meat products. As usual, I asked the cashier for one bag and stated it was for the meat products specifically. The lady bagging the food then asked if I would like my strawberries in with the meat because it would fit better. I politely said no, thank you.

Posted on April 28th, 2009 - 9:21am

schmal says:

Ok, I don't consider myself to be particularly neurotic or obsessive-compulsive, but I've always wondered about the conveyor belts at the checkout counter. Just look at 'em: they always have weird streaks, funny liquid bits, and you can see the folks in front of you dropping all their non-bagged, nasty, dripping ground beef containers flat onto 'em. It can't be good. It really can't.

Posted on May 24th, 2009 - 9:00pm

CRS says:

When a belt looks particularly grotty, I say something like "I see you haven't had time to clean that, but I don't mind waiting if you want to" to the check-out clerk.Somebody should design a self-cleaning belt, maybe with a cleaning apparatus underneath or something. Don't look at me, I'm no engineer.

Posted on July 8th, 2009 - 8:59am