I remember back at the height of the pandemic, I saw this lady licking her finger so she can open those plastic bags, then proceeded to touch multiple vegetables and fruits.
Of course people touch those all the time. Maybe they sneezed before entering the store etc.
Always wash the things you consum before because you never know.
And with the bag you just breath on your findertips and then you have some grip. And the you, of course, proceed to touch every vegetable and fruit you can lay your filthy fingers on.
Oh for sure, I know people with more filthy hands probably touched the produce, and I do wash them when I get home. I was just sharing something I remember at a time where spreading bodily fluids was an extra concerning thing.
And no, I personally do not touch the produce. I open the plastic bag just with my hands, invert it to wrap around my hand, and grab the produce with it. So my hands never directly touch them.
During the pandemic (and also to this date) I open bags sometimes by visiting the refrigerator section and touching the bed of the shelves. A lot of grocery stores have fridges that spray water in the section so it will get my fingers wet. It's even easier if Im buying a vegetable from that section, since I just have to touch the thing I'm buying and my fingers will be wet enough to open the bag.
Place the top of the bag between your palms, then think about your evil plan while sliding your hands against each other till they open, if not, try it on the bottom of the bag.
Loose small produce like beans or cherries - keeps them all together.
Moistened produce like kale or cilantro - keeps everything else in the bag from getting wet.
Produce with flaky detritus like onions or garlic - keeps pieces of peel from getting everywhere.
Raw meat prone to leakage - keeps other items in the bag from being exposed to potential pathogens.
They sell reusable mesh bags to help with the first scenario, but they aren't really helpful for the other 3. I also try to be mindful of not buying more reusable bags I don't need because most of those end up in landfills long before the 100/200/500/20,000 uses needed to offset the number of plastic bags you'd use otherwise.
Paper bags would help for the first and third scenarios as well, but not the other two. And single-use paper is nearly as bad.
Moistened produce like kale or cilantro - keeps everything else in the bag from getting wet.
Moistening leafy greens makes the rot faster. I hate that grocery stores do this. I've even seen them spraying bags of greens, which is just a waste of water.
I don't want the stuff I buy to touch the shopping cart or the conveyor also it is easier to separate them from other stuff in the fridge when you get back home
Do you have any idea how many boxes, crates, hands and other surfaces the produce has already touched? Its also just sitting in the open at the store for people to touch, sneeze on, drop on the floor. The carts and the conveyor won't make it any worse and you should be washing all produce before eating it anyway.
Even prorer tip: pull the handles gently apart from each other, the pulling will make the plastic to come apart and then you can grab the edges and open it.
This works in finnish supermarkets, dunno if the bags are the same over there.