Is it just me? Raw meat at the grocery store

[cabanafrau]

While i agree that I dont' pack meat with other food items, I think you went beyond oveboard asking what a store policy was regarding baggingg groceries. i have never know a store to have one and think the question was rediculous. Just say you dont' want them together or better yet bag them yourself if the store checkout lines are set up for that.

I disagree. I also think it's ridiculous to suggest that stores don't have a procedure for how groceries should be bagged, I've seen training take place.

 

[verleniahall]

i always put my meat in the bags at the meat area, then ask for it ot be bagged seperatly in paper - no complaits and i tip the baggers for their time

 

[Allison]

While i agree that I dont' pack meat with other food items, I think you went beyond oveboard asking what a store policy was regarding baggingg groceries. i have never know a store to have one and think the question was rediculous. Just say you dont' want them together or better yet bag them yourself if the store checkout lines are set up for that.

Our store has a policy. I don't think it is going overboard or ridiculous to ask about a policy at a store you shop at.

 

[Minnesota!]

It does not bother me.


I use the plastic bags in the meat department, I wash my fruits and veg, etc. Like someone said, you are getting more cross-contamination from whatever is on your cart than you are going to from wrapped meat.

 

[TipsyTraveler]

This might be the only time in my life that being vegan has simplified matters. Lol.

 

[luvsJack]

I either use the plastic bags in the meat department or, at least, a produce bag for that extra protection. But, I don't care if they bag it with something else. It doesn't make sense to me (parents owned a grocery store for years so we all have been well trained in how to bag groceries), but I don't think its a big deal.

 

[Meriweather]

My grocery stores always ask if I want them separate (I use reusable bags).
I also do use the plastic bags in the meat section.

 

[Gracie09]

I bag myself while shopping around the store. This way I can put things where I want them based on where in teh house they are stored. (love it). But when I didn't the cashier would automatically put it in a plastic bag and then in a bag with the other meat.

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

Hm… I guess I never really noticed or cared. They always talk about how unsanitary the check out belt is, as well as inside the shopping cart is, I'm more concerned about that. Everyone always wipes off the handles of the cart but that's not the part you should be concerned about.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

It doesn't bother me. In all honesty, my local store often separates out the meat, and I move it into the larger bags with other stuff so there's less to carry.

 

[LBIJim]

Doesn't bother me in the least if they bag raw meat with other refrigerated items. Rather, I'm more annoyed when they unnecessarily bag a single meat item separately. Throw the Cracker Barrel cheese and Pillsbury Grands in with it.

I usually try to bag the bulk of my order myself while the cashier is still scanning. At the one store where they bag as they scan I sometimes rearrange things after I'm done checking out, but it's more a matter of putting similar items together rather than any contamination fears.

Over twenty years ago, for the customer in front of me, the teenaged bagger put a can of Comet cleanser in with a pot roast. The lady raised holy hell.

OP, since this market doesn't offer self checkout or bag your own, and you wish to continue shopping there, make your preference known in advance. The CS lady said they'll do whatever the customer wants, even if she was a little snotty.

 

[cheerful chickadee]

I'm a cashier at a grocery store, we were trained to put raw meat separatE from everything else. If a customer has a reusable bag we are to ask them if the meat is ok in that or if they want it in plastic. Scented things and chemicals go in their own bags with no consumables.

That said, I have had more than a few customers yell at me for separating things so much, they tell me they don't want so many bags or that I'm using too many bags. So we do what the customers ask, because no matter what we might be doing it "wrong" depending on the customer.

 

[pooh4evr]

doesn't really bother me. Gotta say never really thought too much about it.

 

[Goofy_Disney_Dad]

I don't do a lot of grocery shopping anymore so I haven't really noticed either way.

 

[eliza61]

I didn't even know there was a store policy on bagging groceries. truthfully half the time I just want to get the heck outta the supermarket, I stuff every thing in random bags. I figure it's not going to be in the bag that long.

Also I'm sick of those plastic bags so the less of them I use the happier I am. They can stuff every thing together if it cuts down on a few bags.

 

[ols386]

I always put my meat in those little plastic bags specifically for meat, and cashier always puts meats (wrapped in the bags) in a separate bag from other food. If they didn't do this, I would certainly ask them to.

 

[720L]

I'm not sure they train people how to bag groceries anymore! It's one of my pet peeves (since I was a "service clerk" & had special training on bagging groceries properly when I was in HS). It seems like nobody knows how to bag properly anymore. It does make it a little harder when all they use is plastic bags unless you bring your own (which I almost always forget to do). I was taught to bag meats in a separate bag--and chicken & beef were in separate bags from each other or wrapped in separate plastic bags. Cold stuff all gets bagged together. Only put a few canned goods in a bag so the bag isn't too heavy and breaks.I have had cashiers put 4 spaghetti sauces in 1 plastic bag!

 

[cleverclovers]

Do you have any insulated reusable shopping bags? I use mine all the time. One for meat. One for other items (milk, butter, cheese,etc). As soon as the meat has been scanned at the checkout, tell the clerk that YOU will put it in your own bag.

 

[Bluestars]

My store has plastic produce bags in the meat department so that you can put your packages of meat in those if you wish. That's good enough for me.

That's what I do with all of my meat purchases. I use the plastic bags in the meat section.

 

[JanaDee]

Agreed!!

I always bag my own groceries when possible, and group things together on the belt according to how I want to unpack them.

In this store, though, the cashier stands next to that spinning bag thing where she scans and immediately puts the item into a bag. There is nowhere for me to help bag - it literally goes straight from her hand to a bag.

Oh well...guess I will just have to keep on watching.

Walmart?