These Are America’s 5 Cleanest Grocery Stores

updated Jun 21, 2019

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When it comes to your food, your first priority is probably making sure everything you eat is hygienic. If you walk into a grocery store and notice dirty floors or flies buzzing around the produce, there’s a good chance you’re going to want to turn right back around and walk out the door. Thankfully, Consumer Reports has published its guide to “The Cleanest Grocery Stores in America,” so you never have to face a messy grocery store again.

To determine which grocery stores are the cleanest, Consumer Reports surveyed 75,000 of its members. The resulting report found that shoppers want to see spotless entryways and restrooms, hand sanitizer stations, gleaming floors, and quick responses to spills and messes in the aisles. In fact, on its annual list of the country’s top-rated grocery stores, cleanliness is one of the most important factors, which shouldn’t be surprising.

Most of the grocery stores that made the list are regional. The top five include “Texas-based Central Market; the mid-Atlantic’s Wegmans; Heinen’s, in Ohio and the Chicago area; Southern California-based Gelson’s Markets; and the Northeast’s Market Basket.” Trader Joe’s, which is also consistently a top-rated national grocery store chain, rounded out the list. Just last month, in fact, Consumer Reports crowned Trader Joe’s America’s favorite grocery store.

On the other hand, Walmart and two Eastern grocery store chains, Tops and Key Food, placed lowest in the cleanliness ratings. Be aware that this doesn’t mean the food at these stores is somehow contaminated or unsafe to eat. You probably have nothing to worry about if you shop at a grocery store that ranked low on this list. All it means is that, from an aesthetic perspective, these places could probably do with some better upkeep.

Publix, however, doesn’t appear on this list, which might come as a surprise. Last year, the American Customer Satisfaction Index named it the “highest-rated company in the entire grocery store category,” which means it’s probably pretty clean, too.