• USA Today , Monday, November 15, 2010 10:49 AM

As Kermit so famously put it, "it's not that easy being green."

A Tampa Tribune investigation found lead in reusable grocery bags bought at Winn-Dixie, Publix, Sweetbay, Walmart and Target stores and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., is now asking for a federal investigation. Many of the bags are made in China.

In a letter to the Food and Drug Administration, Schumer writes: "Any situation where lead bags are coming into contact with the food being purchased by Americans needs to be immediately investigated and resolved."

But wait, that's not all. Jack Horst, a grocery specialist for Kurt Salmon Associates, says concern about lead poisoning pale next to those for the possibility for E. coli contamination. Says he: "If you put a hunk of meat in one of these bags and it drips, God knows what's going on in your reusable bag."

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