10 things grocery stores won’t tell you!

[MortgageQueen]

Great article. . . too long to post here
Very curious, gross and tricky things grocery stores do. . . .

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/10-things-grocery-stores-wont-tell-you-2014-12-05?page=1

[Natalka]

It's a good round-up. No surprizes for me, though, which makes me feel okay!

[walkonby]

yeah, I knew most of them, EXCEPT the info about the filthiness of the carts!! I just never thought about that before. agh!!

[Shwa Girl]

Good article.

About Costco, we like to shop there. We get the Costco "clearance items" -- and now that you can use any MC, it's even better.

About the size of the shopping cart, we use a list. If anything we pick up is not on the list, we get a small hand basket. The extras go in the hand basket. Then we take a breather before going through the check out and take out things that we don't need. We just give the hand basket to the cashier.
Easy peasy.

[Jina]

I hate the misters. Lettuces go bad so quickly because of the water. I find Walmart uses it too much.

No surprise with Costco. We shop there more often now and I find they have more quality/organic products which cost less that the other stores. Their items on sale are so worth it.

ahhh the filthy cart....I try to wipe as much as I can but I do forget sometimes . I know some stores provide wipes at the entrance.

Lastly, size of the cart...I have no problem leaving the stores with an empty cart, not matter how big it is. I usually have a diaper bag and recycle bags in it so they don't appear empty.

[abbasgirl]

The extra large carts trick doesn't work on me. It just encourages me to buy less and use a basket. There's nothing I hate more than trying to maneuver a huge cart through a busy store! Stores that have optional small carts or baskets that can be pulled along on wheels get more out of me.
I hadn't thought of how they space staple items throughout the store to get people to walk through it before. I just always thought they were incredibly unorganized!

[trishka]

Not surprised by most of these. I've always been conscience of how dirty the carts are when I saw a person sneeze into their hand and then put their hand on the cart handle.

As for large carts, I usually just use a basket but depending on what I am buying (ie. pop, large juices etc.) I'll get a cart. I like the carts at Freshco that have the big bottom but a smaller part on the top, if a store doesn't have the small carts. I also shop with a list so I don't usually have a problem with filling up a cart with extras.

[torontogal12]

I noticed the misters on the weekend. I got a bag of brussels sprouts and identical bags from the same company were in a bin on one side of the store, and the others were in a small section under the mister. The misted ones looked awful. The ones in the bins looked much fresher. I am assuming they came in the same shipment but I didn't touch the ones under the mister. I also hate misted, mouldy spinach and always buy it in dry bags

Re: the filthy cart, I don't worry too much about that. Germs are everywhere in public places and you can't avoid them. You wipe down your cart but then have to remember people's filthy hands on packages you buy. They touched your food and then put it back on the shelf. And then the cashier's filthy hands from touching the dirtiest thing of all - cash, coughing as she hands you your change. Their dirty money hands also touch all your items as they scan. I just don't touch my face until I can wash my hands or get some Purell on there.

I agree with some of you re: the large cart. I never fill that thing up. I am shopping for just me and DH, not a family of 5. When it starts looking full it actually makes me think I'm buying too much and I start putting stuff back. We fill up half the cart with our reusable bags anyway

[Zonny]

Good article.

About Costco, we like to shop there. We get the Costco "clearance items" -- and now that you can use any MC, it's even better.

Since they started taking MC, you've always been able to use any of them. Just as when they only took AMEX, you could use any AMEX.

[Shwa Girl]

I hadn't thought of how they space staple items throughout the store to get people to walk through it before. I just always thought they were incredibly unorganized!

Sometimes it's hard to even walk down an aisle when they put extra displays in the middle of the aisle. It makes the store look bad, by making customers angry that they have to squeeze other customers in the grocery aisles

[trishka]

I agree with some of you re: the large cart. I never fill that thing up. I am shopping for just me and DH, not a family of 5. When it starts looking full it actually makes me think I'm buying too much and I start putting stuff back. We fill up half the cart with our reusable bags anyway

Glad I'm not the only one. I do the same thing when my cart looks to full. I shop for myself only, I shouldn't need a big cart full of stuff.

[Lily369]

Good article. I don't know several of them. Thank you very much.

[KDivers]

Great article - just learned something new! Thanks