Why don’t many coffee shops let customers bring their own cup unlike Starbucks?

Starbucks recently began allowing customers to use their own reusable cups for in-car and mobile orders, a move aimed at helping the retail giant. Coffee Reduce waste from single-use cups.

The company said the change makes it the first national coffee retailer to accept reusable cups for all order types. customers of Starbucks Those who used to order from the chain’s cafes will now be able to get drinks in their own glass.

But at a time when reusable water bottles are so fashionable that people queue for hours for certain brands, and when water bottle filling stations proliferate, some may wonder: Why aren’t there more cafes offering disposable cup alternatives? provides?

One reason is companies’ concerns about hygiene, a common problem with reusable food and beverage containers that has been accentuated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Corona virus

. At the beginning of the epidemic, many institutions, incl StarbucksTemporarily stopped accepting reusable items, prompting more than 125 health experts to sign a letter endorsing the use of individual containers.

The letter, which cited research, noted that reusable cups may be safe as long as basic hygiene practices are followed. But while many pandemic restrictions have since been lifted, there’s no guarantee you’ll be able to take your reusable cup to any coffee shop and refill it.

“Food safety is given as a reason for this, but it is not a valid reason from the risk point of view,” he said. Benjamin ChapmanHead of Department of Agriculture and Human Sciences North Carolina State University. “The risks are very low,” he said.

Businesses that sell food and beverages, including cafes, have long debated how to ensure reusable items are clean, he said. Chapman.

“When it’s a reusable cup, it’s not under the company’s control and they don’t know what someone put in the cup,” he said.

Some locations may not package reusable products due to local or state health department regulations. The federal food code doesn’t include many specific parameters for reuse, he said, meaning standards can vary by location.

Even if local laws allow it and customers arrive with cups that say they’re clean, some businesses may still worry about being held liable if a reusable container makes someone sick.

“The biggest concern is how comfortable industry members are with cleaning and disinfecting something when it comes to glass,” he says.

With packaged disposable cups, retailers have a greater guarantee of hygiene. And unlike single-use cups, individual cups can come in all shapes and sizes. Some may have ridges or other features that make them difficult to clean thoroughly.

After temporarily suspending the use of individual cups in cafes during the pandemic, Starbucks It again allowed people to bring their own containers in 2021. But it instituted multiple measures to address potential sanitation issues.

For example, a coffee chain only accepts individual cups that are determined by its staff to be clean. Workers also place orders through a contactless process that involves, in part, placing a reusable cup inside a ceramic mug.

Chapman said the best practice for any consumer who wants to use reusable cups is to wash their containers at home first.

Although some coffee retailers may still be concerned about people bringing in contaminated containers that could make them sick, he said the potential sanitation risks around reusable cups are generally low.

Coffee is not the best source of nutrients for pathogens. Beverages with dairy or non-dairy milk can spoil, but not cleaning the cup is unlikely because it will be gross or smelly. “We are not aware of any food pathogenic illness transmitted by reusable cups,” he added.

The Washington Post