Shopping carts: Germs on wheels?

Shopping-cart handles are like seats: You never want to feel the warmth of the person who was using it before you. The Barf Blog considers how shopping cart sanitation has evolved over the past five years as grocery stores have sought to find ways to help prevent the spread of germs.

And now, in light of flu season and concerns over the communicability of the  H1N1 virus, supermarkets and retail stores are taking preventative measures to lessen customers’ exposure to germs. Some stores are offering hand sanitizers via wall-mounted locations or squeeze bottles. Others, like HyVee and Target, are placing sanitizing wipes near the shopping carts, so customers can wipe down the handles.