Avoid Self Check Out At Wegmans And Other Stores In New York

If you are a fan of using the self-checkout lane at Wegmans, Walmart or other stores in New York, there's a good and gross reason you might want to stop. To me, self-checkout lanes are a blessing and a curse. It seems like most of the time they are the quickest way to ring up your groceries. A lot of stores seem to have cut back on their cashiers, so the lanes with employees always take longer. And those lanes are usually where the people with a cart full of groceries usually go. On the other hand, it's sometimes a pain in the you-know-what to try to ring up your own groceries, especially if you have alcohol, clearance items, or produce.

A New Report May Give Your Good Cause To Stop Using Self-Checkouts

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This is just GROSS! An experiment conducted by the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the United Kindom found that self-checkouts are contaminated with lots of fecal matter bacteria aka poop.

In the experiment, National Health Service public health officials swabbed 19 different items that are frequently touched by people, including self-checkout kiosks. They found high bacterial loads on the items.

Lab analysis showed self-service checkouts had 'one of the highest bacterial loads', with five types of bacteria known to cause disease in people. One of these was a bug called Enterococcus, a bacteria commonly found in faeces.

Other bacteria found included E. coli. which can cause stomach cramps, fever, and even diarrhea.

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During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the self-serve kiosks were wiped down often. But, as we got further into the pandemic it seems like most store employees couldn't be bothered with wiping down the machines, so it makes sense. And of course, people don't seem to wash their hands regularly.

It makes me cringe, thinking about any produce I might have put on the checkout scale without a bag thankfully I wash all my produce, but still).