Downside of reusable shopping bags?

Supermarkets in New Zealand are discontinuing the use of single-use plastic bags as a contribution to reducing plastic pollution.  (My personal view is that this is just scratching the surface of the problem - produce is still wrapped in plastic and just about everything we buy in the line of detergents, shampoos, hand creams, water etc. is packed in plastic).

Some supermarkets are offering free or very inexpensive fabric bags to carry home the purchases.

A New Zealand politician has jumped on this, quoting a discredited overseas study that suggests that the use of reusable fabric bags will result in some deaths from food poisoning.

The general opinion among experts, myself included, is that this is silly scaremongering.  If meat and poultry is carried in these bags and blood or drip escapes the packaging, then the bag will be contaminated.  If unwrapped salads, cured meats, cakes, pastries and bread are carried in the same bag, cross contamination may occur.

Just as in the kitchen, it is sensible to separate raw meats, which will be cooked, from foods that will be consumed without further cooking.  Different chopping boards should be used for raw and cooked foods, and fabric bags used for raw meats should be washed regularly.  This not rocket science.

Others have jumped on the bandwaggon, once again putting forward the suggestion that sale of raw chicken, which often contains Campylobacter, should be banned in favour of frozen products.  Certainly, freezing reduces the numbers of Campylobacter, but does not eliminate it.

It seems to me that a slight change in mindset is required, together with a greater understanding of food hygiene.