Bashas' starts cart-washing program

The handles of supermarket carts are scummier than port-a-potties, according to a recent University of Arizona study.

The rolling basket carrying your fresh lettuce and thumb-sucking baby could be rife with bacteria from leaky packages of poultry or raw meat - even leaky diapers - according to the Center for Disease Control.

An East Valley grocer is trying to clean up the yuck for shoppers and the toddlers who ride shopping cart seats, touching everything and putting their germ-laden fingers into their mouths.

Chandler-based Bashas' is piloting cart washers at four of its stores, including Bashas' at Hayden and Indian School roads in Scottsdale, Southern Avenue and McClintock Drive in Tempe, Gilbert and Chandler Heights roads in Chandler and at a Food City in Phoenix.

The devices are similar in name and operation to carwashes. Clusters of carts can be pushed through at once, getting an all-over spray of sanitizing solution.

The vinegar-peroxide mist destroys 99.9 percent of the bacteria, said Tom Dominick, Bashas' vice president of food safety.

Goopy stuff has to be removed by hand, he said, but at least until that happens, the caked-on gunk is not as germy.

Dominick said he's been reading reports of bacteria-laden supermarket carts for a long time and trying to find a solution.

Bashas', like other local supermarkets, installed containers of free antiseptic wipes near the cart corrals in the stores. But to achieve the same effectiveness as the cart washers, a shopper would have to wipe every inch of the basket, he said.

"I've been looking at this type of system for some time," Dominick said. "But (other options) have been too bulky, take too much time per cart or are too expensive."

The device the company is piloting costs about one cent per cart, said Kristy Nied, Bashas' spokeswoman.

"That's not much different than the cart wipes," she said. Shopper response has been positive so far, she said.

"Some customers told us they will shop at our stores because we have the system," Nied said.

Bashas' has another 10 cart washers ready to go pending landlord or city approvals, since they require a chunk of outside space, she said.

"We're trying to get something at all our stores," Dominick said.

Jean Hildebrant of Scottsdale thinks its a good idea.

"I use handy wipes wherever I go," she said. "But babies put their mouths all over everything."

Traci Arthur of Scottsdale, who has 2-year-old twins and a 4-year-old, isn't convinced the cart washer will keep her kids from getting sick after a trip to the supermarket.

"It doesn't make a difference," Arthur said. "There are germs everywhere."

All Valley Fry's supermarkets have antiseptic wipes at every store entrance, and the company steam cleans the carts on a regular basis, said Jim Nygren, Fry's spokesman.

Safeway does the same, said Cathy Kloos, Valley spokeswoman for the chain.

"We clean all our carts quarterly, with a high-temperature, high-pressure, detergent wash, and use a sanitizing hose system more often," Kloos said.