In a viral TikTok video, a Publix shopper delivered a warning about a nauseating reason you shouldn’t put your groceries in shopping cart child seats.
The video, posted on April 28 by TikTok user @rantz_raves, starts with the camera focused on a typical shopping cart within the store.
As the TikToker opens the child seating compartment of the cart he issues a stark warning: “Don’t put your groceries here. Don’t ever put your groceries here.”
He continues, “You see this little seat right here? Kids sit on this with dirty diapers—it leaks out, I’ve seen it happen.”
@rantz_raves Please Follow Me. #groceryshopping #cart #poop #diapers #food #safety ♬ original sound – luxe
In less than 48 hours, the video has gone viral, accumulating over 334,300 views and over 650 comments. Many users are admitting the idea has never entered their thoughts.
One commenter confessed, “Omg that is my Purse HOLDER! I did not think of this in my life and I’m a mother!”
“That has never crossed my mind until today. I’m glad stores still provide those sanitizing wipes,” a second added.
“New fear unlocked,” a third wrote.
“Adults do way worse with their hands and they’re the ones pushing it,” one more said.
This TikTok isn’t the first time concerns about the cleanliness of shopping carts have surfaced in online discussions. Reddit threads dating back years reveal similar sentiments from both regular shoppers and parents.
One Redditor called for parents to exercise caution and use anti-bacterial wipes on carts after allegedly witnessing a child with chicken pox seated inside the cart.
Another wrote, “I try to always use my cart cover if possible. Those things are so gross and after getting the flu we don’t chance it.”
PSA: To anyone who puts their babies or kids in the shopping cart
byu/Cherrypop91 inbeyondthebump
One more parent shared a frightening incident where their child ingested peanut butter smeared on a shopping cart, leading to a serious allergic reaction.
But how dirty is the average shopping cart?
According to one Washington Post article, “In a 2012 study, researchers swabbed 85 grocery carts for certain digestive tract germs. About 72 percent tested positive for some form of fecal bacteria.”
The article further states, “The bacteria may have originated from many things, including children with dirty diapers riding in the cart, cross-contamination from handling raw meat products while shopping or bird droppings while sitting in the grocery store parking lots.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to @rantz_raves via TikTok comment and to Publix via its press email for comment.
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