Woolworths has responded to a News Corp report that it was considering allowing consumers to use their own containers for transporting meat and fish products.

It’s understood that the primary concern would be the contamination risks of customers bringing in non-sterilised containers into meat, seafood and deli departments, potentially affecting both the food in the department and the food purchased by customers.

It also raises the issue of properly weighing goods, which would become difficult to do consistently without containers that conform to a standard weight.

“This is not something we offer due to food safety and operational reasons,” a Woolworths spokesperson told Inside Retail.

“We are always monitoring new ways to help customers reduce plastic consumption right across our stores.”

Last week, the supermarket chain committed to rolling out the measures currently announced, such as the plastic bag ban put in place, an effort to remove plastic packaging on 80 lines of stock and removing unnecessary packaging in produce.

Research by Canstar Blue has found more than half of shoppers have already begun stockpiling plastic bags at home, based on a survey of more than 2,200 people.

While 71 per cent of those surveyed back the ban, 21 per cent disagree and eight per cent are undecided.

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