A doctor has issued a severe warning about shopping carts – claiming that the average supermarket hold-all is actually dirtier than a toilet, and therefore more likely to give you an infection.
Dr. Kunal Sood is a board-certified acute and chronic pain doctor who resides in Germantown, Maryland.
He frequently shares tips on his TikTok account, where he boasts more than 1.9 million followers.
How infected are shopping carts?
Most recently, the health care expert took to the video-sharing platform to warn his followers about the dangers of shopping carts.
In a viral clip, which has so far amassed more than 474,000 views, he explains why grocery carts can be covered with a high level of bacteria.
He captioned the video: ‘Do you clean your shopping cart before using?’
Dr. Sood began by giving an example of a woman who claimed she got hand, foot and mouth disease from the grocery cart after putting her baby on it for the first time.
Can one get an infection from a shopping cart?
‘So it is possible to pass an infection from a shopping cart,’ he said before lifting the lid on how many germs there really were.
He noted that, according to a study from the University of Arizona, more than 75 per cent of shopping carts were positive for fecal bacteria.
The health care expert claimed that grocery carts held more germs than toilets.
‘The study even showed the shopping carts were even dirtier than toilets because toilets were more likely to be cleaned than the shopping carts,’ he said.
How to avoid germs when using grocery cart
Dr. Sood also shared his tip for avoiding the transfer of germs when using a grocery cart.
‘The best way to lower the risk of infection for both you and your kids is to use a disinfecting wipe and make sure you wipe the shopping cart handle,’ he advised.
