But it's important to keep food safety in mind when selecting a shopping cart rather than just avoiding that undesirable squeaky wheel. A positive shopping experience can easily go bad if shoppers put food safety on the back burner. Food safety begins at the grocery store. “Cross-contamination due to improper storage and handling of foods in shopping carts could result in foodborne illness,” said Ravi Jadeja, food safety specialist at FAPC. “Low levels of pathogens could grow to a dangerous level if refrigerated food products are temperature abused during shopping and transporting home by consumers.”The first point of contact for most food is the shopping cart and it’s important to wipe down the handle of the shopping cart to remove germs.