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Retail Food Alliance |
 | Article: Avoiding purse contamination by bacteria
to help prevent foodborne illness
"Carrying filth: A 2News Investigation"
(continued)
"Most of the ladies we talked to told us they wouldn't be surprised if their purses were at least a little bit dirty. It turns out purses are so surprisingly dirty, even the microbiologist who tested them was shocked.
"Microbiologist Amy Karren of Nelson Labs says nearly all of the purses tested were not only high in bacteria, but high in harmful kinds of bacteria.
"Pseudomonas can cause eye infections, staphylococcus aurous can cause serious skin infections, and salmonella and e-coli found on the purses could make people very sick. In one sampling, four of five purses tested positive for salmonella, and that's not the worst of it.
"'There is fecal contamination on the purses,' says Amy.
"Leather or vinyl purses tended to be cleaner than cloth purses, and lifestyle seemed to play a role. People with kids tended to have dirtier purses than those without, with one exception. The purse of one single woman who frequented nightclubs had one of the worst contaminations of all.
"'Some type of feces, or even possibly vomit or something like that,' says Amy.
"So the moral of this story - your purse won't kill you, but it does has the potential to make you very sick if you keep it on places where you eat. Use hooks to hang your purse at home and in restrooms, and don't put it on your desk, on a restaurant table, or on your kitchen countertop.
"Experts say you should think of your purse the same way you would a pair of shoes.
"'If you think about putting a pair of shoes onto your countertops, that's the same thing you're doing when you put your purse on the countertops,' says Amy.
"The microbiologists at Nelson also said cleaning a purse will help. Wash cloth purses and use leather cleaner to clean the bottom of leather purses."
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
May 21, 2006
KUTV.com (Salt Lake City)
Shauna Lake reporting
http://kutv.com/local/local_story_141232102.html
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