Efforts to replace plastic shopping bags with those made of cloth are being promoted on environmental grounds. But are certain health and safety concerns being overlooked? Well according to the first-ever study on this matter by the Canadian-based Environment and Plastics Energy Council, the answer is “yes.” The study found that sixty-four percent of the reusable bags it examined contained worrisome levels of unhealthy bacteria, with more than thirty percent exceeding levels considered safe by government standards. Since the study also found forty percent of cloth bags contained yeast or mold that can lead to food poisoning, it may not be long before the reusable shopping bag fad gets taken off the public shelf.