by Daily Mail Reporter

Health risk: Eco-friendly bags contain traces of lethal toxins, claim a team of researchers

Reusable shopping bags harbour potentially deadly bugs and could threaten public health, claim scientists.

Tests on shoppers' bags revealed that half contained traces of the lethal toxin E.coli, which killed 26 people in Scotland in 1996 in one of the world's worst
food-poisoning outbreaks.

The scientists also found many bags were contaminated with salmonella.

They say reusable bags must be washed regularly at high temperature to kill bugs left by the packaging from raw meat.

The research was funded by the American Chemistry Council, an industry body which is involved in a major lobbying campaign in the US to try and stop states like California going ahead with a ban
on single-use carrier bags.

California and other states want shoppers to switch to reusable bags.

There is no recorded case anywhere in the world of someone falling ill because their reusable shopping bag was contaminated with bugs.

The level of bacteria the researchers found was high enough to 'cause a wide range of serious health problems and even death', particularly to children.

The tests were carried out by a team at the University of Arizona, who stopped 84 shoppers to check the state of their bags.

The popularity of reusable 'eco-friendly' bags has soared in Britain as the growth in recycling means fewer consumers use disposable plastic bags.

Professor Charles Gerba, who led the study, said: 'Our findings suggest a serious threat to public health, especially from bacteria such as E.coli.

'Consumers are alarmingly unaware of these risks and the critical need to sanitise their bags weekly.'