MARTIN SLOANE | Supermarket Shopper Readers have a handle on shopping-cart debate

Do germs lurking on the handle bars and surfaces of dirty shopping carts present a danger to you and your children? I believe they do, and readers have responded strongly to my recent columns presenting evidence that supermarkets should sanitize their carts:
Dear Martin: The carts are dirty. They have half-eaten food left in them. People throw everything they don't want in them. Kids with dirty shoes stand in them. In the rest rooms I watch people walk out without washing their hands -- then they get a cart and off they go. Today, I would never put a small child in a cart seat without one of those handy items that cover the bar and the seat. When I do my shopping, I spread paper on the cart bottom and the seat. A supermarket employee
Dear Martin: I now take your advice and clean the shopping cart handle and seat with a sanitizing wipe. You don't know how dirty they are until you see what comes up on the wipe. If these areas are so dirty, the rest of the cart might be worse. I think a machine that sanitizes each cart is a fantastic idea. I think it should be required by law. Laura Carpenter, Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.
Dear Laura: I believe state and local health departments will eventually require cart sanitation so every supermarket shopper receives a really clean cart. It will happen when the health and sanitation experts who write the national codes recognize the seriousness of the problem. We are working on it. In the meantime, shoppers have to do their best to protect themselves and their children.
Dear Martin: I have no illusions about cleanliness in supermarkets. I have seen too many people leave supermarket restrooms without washing their hands. In our family, when we come home from the supermarket, we wash our hands and then clean everything (including cans and bottles as well as fruit and veggies). Nothing goes into the fridge, freezer or pantry without being cleaned. Sarah in North Carolina
Dear Martin: When my oldest son was 18 months old, we went to the supermarket. A man who had finished shopping offered me his cart. As he walked away, I noticed the man had sores on his hands. The next thing I knew my son was teething on the handle. I just felt sick. From then on I would take a clean diaper with me and put it over the cart handle. It usually wound up on the floor by the time we were half way through the store. Yesterday, I saw a better solution. A shopper had her baby sitting in a quilted seat liner that completely surrounded the child and covered the cart handle. The busy mother just said she bought it on the Internet. Have you seen this clever item? Bette Shoebotham, Spring, Texas
Dear Bette: I have. The quilted cart seat liner is called the Clean Shopper. It covers the entire seating area and handle of the shopping cart so no part of the cart touches your baby. It slips on in seconds with just one hand. It has a self-contained safety strap so toddlers sit securely and comfortably, as well as two slits in the back to use the cart safety strap. The Clean Shopper is 100-percent quilted cotton and machine washable, and was developed by Missy Cohen-Fyffe of Pelham, N.H., and her company Babe Ease. The price is $29.95 plus shipping. To order, call (800) 635-3899. You can find information as well as place your order on the Internet at www.cleanshopper.com. Missy has also developed the Clean Diner seat liner, which she says is a mother's answer to grimy wooden restaurant high chairs.
XSend questions and comments to Martin Sloane in care of The Vindicator. The volume of mail precludes individual replies to every letter, but Martin Sloane will respond to letters of general interest in the column.
United Feature Syndicate