Is it just me? Raw meat at the grocery store

[RamblingMad]

There are safety rules for this.

If you’re worried about it, use self checkout.

 

[NYCgrrl]

It’s the law now in NYS, bring your own bag.
Since I prefer to pack myself doesn’t bother me. Been teaching DGD how to do it and it boils down to hard boxed goods at the bottom with soft goods on top. Depending on the meat square type cuts go in the bottom of my bag. I don’t care about the yogurt since it’s already sealed.

When I buy meat at supermarkets yes to extra plastic bags which for me is located in the produce dept.

 

[luvnwdwgal]

My local grocer always puts meat and poultry in a separate bag.

 

[Karin1984]

Okay, I am lost here. How can it be that in the US meat is so poorly packaged that this is a concern? I need visuals. Can someone post pictures where it is clearly visible how the packaging looks in the US?
Here in NL, the meat doesn't leak out of the packaging, when bought in supermarkets.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Okay, I am lost here. How can it be that in the US meat is so poorly packaged that this is a concern? I need viCan someone post pictures where it is clearly visible how the packaging looks in the US?
Here in NL, the meat doesn't leak out of the packaging, when bought in supermarkets.

Depends on the store. Some are just loosely packed. I’ll see if I can find a pic...

 

[kdonnel]

Okay, I am lost here. How can it be that in the US meat is so poorly packaged that this is a concern? I need visuals. Can someone post pictures where it is clearly visible how the packaging looks in the US?
Here in NL, the meat doesn't leak out of the packaging, when bought in supermarkets.

I have never had meat fall out of the package. It has never been a concern in my 28 years as a grocery shopper.

 

[usnuzuloose]

I'll have to look for those - not sure I've ever seen them.

If there is none in the meat take some from the veggie area.

 

[usnuzuloose]

Okay, I am lost here. How can it be that in the US meat is so poorly packaged that this is a concern? I need visuals. Can someone post pictures where it is clearly visible how the packaging looks in the US?
Here in NL, the meat doesn't leak out of the packaging, when bought in supermarkets.

I think what some one is concerned with is the juice.

 

[MillauFr]

I think what some one is concerned with is the juice.

A bigger concern should be that many produce farms irrigate their crops with contaminated water. That is how most of the e-coli outbreaks that hit Chipotle happened.

 

[Heather07438]

ETA: A lot of people are mentioning bagging myself next time - I cannot answer each one, so here goes: This particular store is not set up for that, or else I would have. The item goes from the cashier's hand straight to the bag on the bag carousel. I prefer it and would rather do it myself if possible, and do 100% the time in other stores.

Yep. I always run to the end and bag myself and do it so quickly it looks maniacal but at least I stay a step ahead where everything is bagged before they have a chance to plop down my pears from 3’ onto a metal shelf and or plop a 5lb bag of potatoes on top of them. And meats can leak, they don’t need to be leaking into my bag of onions thank you.

Here are examples of meat I just bought. The pork is only wrapped in Saran Wrap which juices can leak if tilted. The chicken wrap has been heat sealed the the pooled juices in the corner cannot escape. I don’t mind the quickly wrapped as they are cut and packaged in the market and tend to be cheaper and fresher, just need to take care handling them.

 

[usnuzuloose]

A bigger concern should be that many produce farms irrigate their crops with contaminated water. That is how most of the e-coli outbreaks that hit Chipotle happened.

That is a given.

 

[usnuzuloose]

A bigger concern should be that many produce farms irrigate their crops with contaminated water. That is how most of the e-coli outbreaks that hit Chipotle happened.

It can happen when employees don't wash their hands

 

[MillauFr]

It can happen when employees don't wash their hands

Agreed. I don't understand why the farms haven't moved to drip irrigation systems to conserve water and also to reduce the risk of e-coli. Just spraying water that is full of fecal coliform all over vegetables is a sure fire way to spread disease.

 

[jaiminee krikit]

This is part of why I will always self-check when I can. I worked in Walmart many years ago and we were taught meats go in their own bag, and to never bag chemicals with food, and bag cold food separately, but almost every time I don't do self-check whoever is bagging messes up. Our local grocery store packages their own meats and sometimes it's a hot mess and I don't want that touching anything else period. If they don't offer self-check, I will stand there and re-bag my groceries if necessary. Ick.

 

[mrodgers]

I know this is a zombie thread, but I too always keep the raw meat separate from produce. One of the grossest things I saw was at a picnic, one of the guests brought a cooler full of ice, with raw ground hamburger in it, to grill at the park. The meat just had the cellphane lightly wrapped over the top. I was next to him as he then used that same ice to fill his drink cup and drink from it. I almost threw up. This is not the only weird or questionable thing I have seen this guy do, but it's surely one I will not forget

I screwed up on a camping trip not thinking and tossing my steak into the cooler that had ice in it. We lost that ice. The thought never crossed my mind when I did it and felt really bad.

 

[Judique]

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.

Excellent! Certain things should never be packed together - chocolate and laundry detergent for example.

 

[Judique]

My first real paying job was as a bagger/cart boy at a supermarket. These were the brown paper bag only days. I don't recall any formal training for bagging, just reminders to use common sense. i.e., don't put eggs or bread on the bottom of the bag and then heavy stuff on top of them. I don't ever recall someone asking to have meat bagged separately. There were no worries about cross contamination 40 years ago.

They used to have smaller paper bags to put your half-gallon blocks of ice cream in if desired. Haven't seen them in ages.

Forty years ago your meat was probably double wrapped when you ordered it at a counter. First the white, waxed paper; then the brown meat wrapping paper. It didn't start to leak and create liquid inside that wrapping until a day or two later at your home.

Now the meat is partially thawing from being kept at almost freezing temps while being called fresh. The packing process also probably happened in your store as opposed to in a plant somewhere.

Still, cross contamination did occur.

 

[AndreaA]

My mother was using bags from the fresh veggie dept to put the meat in way back in the 70s. Raw meat next to anything else is gross. It can and does leak no matter what kind of wrapping it has. It might not happen every time, but why would you ever want to deal with it?

Yes, most grocery stores have policies as to how to bag and your bagger was a dope to say there was no such thing. I bet that a regular ”bag boy” would have a different answer. She was probably just doing it because they were short-staffed.

I would bag my own stuff every time if the self-checkout wasn’t often poorly organized. However, not everyone wants to do that and it isn’t being “picky” to expect that basic sanitation sense should be used when bagging. Sheesh.

 

[katie01]

I screwed up on a camping trip not thinking and tossing my steak into the cooler that had ice in it. We lost that ice. The thought never crossed my mind when I did it and felt really bad.

It’s ok, mistakes happen and I surely make them too! This particular guy who did this though has a long history of many, many questionable choices, and not just with food safety lol. Another story for another day!

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

Definitely some things should be bagged separately. Many moons ago I was a cashier at Walmart and that was one of the first things they taught you was don't put stuff like chemicals and food together, and bag gross potentially leaky stuff separately.

Another thing I remember was how gross raw chicken is. People would put that on the belt, and ewwwww. You always had to clean it afterwards because of the gross wet residue it left behind.