The Germiest Places At The Grocery Store
HuffPost
Some of these might surprise you.
Grocery shopping is one of the more mundane errands people do. But in times of high infectious disease prevalence (like our current flu season and period of norovirus outbreaks), it’s an activity with increased potential to come into contact with high-touch surfaces and illness-causing bacteria.
To help shoppers keep sickness at bay, we asked experts to break down the germiest areas in grocery stores and share their advice for protecting themselves from harmful microbes.
Checkout Stations, Especially PIN Pads And Touchscreens
“The key to microbial transfer is pressure,” said microbiologist Jason Tetro, aka “The Germ Guy.” “If something is touched with enough pressure, microbes will be left behind. So it should be no surprise that the germiest place is the PIN pad at the cashier.”
While the whole checkout section is a high-touch area, the PIN pads and touchscreens are touched with that extra pressure.
