The Dos and Don’ts of Grocery Bagging Etiquette, According to a Professional Grocery Shopper

My mom is great at a lot of things, like running our cat rescue Tabby Trail based in North Carolina and making some of the best oatmeal raisin cookies in the entire world (they’re a local legend!). She’s an expert in many trades, and one of her hidden talents is knowing all things grocery shopping. In fact, she’s been working at grocery stores for the better part of the last 40 years. 

Her first job was actually at Publix as a bag girl at the age of 13. Now as a professional Instacart shopper (to fund our cat rescue), she’s really honed in on the ins and outs of an efficient grocery run, including the do’s and don’ts of bagging items at checkout.

Bagging a grocery tote may seem self-explanatory (put groceries in a bag, Jenga-style), but there’s actually a right and wrong way to do it. With how much money we shell out a month on food, the last thing any of us wants to do is ruin our precious haul before we even get home. Not to worry! My mom’s got five tips that’ll protect you from cross-contamination and keep your delicate perishables safe.

The Food and Drug Administration stresses the importance of keeping foods that require refrigeration cool until you get home. The best way to do this is to pack them together! “Kind of like an ice pack, when you keep your frozen items together — frozen fruit, ice cream, and pizzas — their residual coldness keeps each other cold and insulated,” she explains. Same goes for milk, cheese, cream, and other items found in the refrigerated section. On that note…

This is one of the smartest things I’ve ever learned from my mom (in terms of grocery shopping). I don’t know if you’ve ever bought ice cream sandwiches or bags of frozen vegetables and had to endure them melting on the way home. If you haven’t, it’s likely because you packed them in a reusable thermal bag, which helps keep them cool. Same goes for hot items, too, like a fresh rotisserie chicken or items from the hot bar. 

Just make sure you store hot and cold items in separate thermal bags, to preserve their temperatures. You may even want to bring two thermal bags when you shop.

Are you placing packs of raw meat in a separate bag before you pack them? If you aren’t you really should be. “Plastic packing for meat is more fragile than you think, one wrong move and it can be punctured and leak all over your apples,” she says. To avoid cross-contamination, make sure to bag your raw meats in a plastic bag (you can typically find them in produce departments) or a reusable bag. 

“Cleaning supplies should never be bagged with anything that you eat,” my mom says. “Separate them!” The chemicals in cleaning products can easily leak and contaminate your produce, so make sure to package bleach, sanitizers, and polishes in their own bag. Produce is the most important item to keep away from cleaning items, but it’s good practice to separate them from all consumables, including bagged, boxed, and jarred items. 

You don’t need to designate a special place in your car for your bread, but my mom highly recommends reserving it a spot at the top of your bag. Same goes for other fragile items. “It may sound like common sense, but you should always place delicate grocery items, like eggs and bread on top of heavier pantry items like boxed cereal and canned beans,” she says. 

Pro tip: Unload these more fragile items at checkout last, so you won’t accidentally pack them underneath hefty goods. 

What are your grocery bagging tips? Tell us about them in the comments below.