Time to Stop Eating Bagged Salads [updated]
It hurts me to say this because I’m lazy. But after the hundredth outbreak of food poisoning from bags of freshly washed greens, I think it’s time for everyone to stop eating bagged salads.
We originally wrote this article in response to the case of Listeria in Dole Signature Salads in 2016, a condition that can cause miscarriage or stillbirth in pregnant women . The salads were recalled, but 15 people were hospitalized, one died. Back in 2012 and 2013, there were outbreaks of E. coli in similar salads . And now, in 2018, the CDC is telling us to ditch all of our shredded romaine lettuce due to another E. coli outbreak in several states.
According to a 2015 government report , fruits and vegetables are the # 1 source of foodborne illness with listeria and salmonella and the second (sorry) source of E. coli . But there is something about the sachet salad that makes it worse than a regular vegetable. Emily Baselon explains , writing in Slate after an earlier outbreak of E. coli :
To make bags, recyclers take greens from different farms, put them in three different chlorinated baths, dry and seal them in plastic, and then ship them to a market near you. Chlorination does not get rid of E. coli : to do this, you need to heat the leaves and treat them with organic acid, which is likely to soften them. So, by mixing greens from different farms without treating them from contamination, handling spinach in bags results in the proliferation of E. coli when present in a specific field.
The current outbreak confirms this: Listeria cases have spread to eight states and five provinces in Canada. The Food Poisoning Bulletin reported that the indicated batch of lettuce ended up here:
Salads are known to have spread in the following states, but they may have been common in other states as well. The states that received the salads include, but are not limited to: Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York. , Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin. The salads were sold at Giant, Kroger, ALDI, Price Chopper, Walmart, Fred Meyer, Schnucks, Meijer, ShopRite, Stop n Shop, Food 4 Less, Jay C, FoodsCo, PriceRite and others.
This is why I’m going back to making salads again. There is nothing you can do if you end up in a bag of bacteria-laden salad: washing it will only spread the germs, but still keep most of them alive. (If you want to wash it anyway, a vinegar solution is slightly more effective than regular water .) One lettuce head or a bunch of spinach can still be contaminated at the source, but it’s less likely to float with the lettuce halfway through. countrywide.
Updated on 28/04/2018 to mention the 2018 E. coli outbreak.
Photo via VisualHunt .
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