Danger! Bagged Salads

[Claire]

Oh, dear. I must have a cast iron stomach. I LOVE bagged greens. Especially spinach. We can't all live in Calilfornia and Florida (and many of us don't particularly like those places), and it is wonderful to be able to have a fresh baby spinach or mixed greens salads in the dead of winter. My garden lettuce will bolt in another week of warm weather, the spinach already has. No, I don't wash them (the bagged greens, that is. I do wash -- with good water, not soap, my garden greens because they're sometimes muddy and always warm. The cold water crisps them up nicely). I sometimes wonder if we aren't santizing things too much and creating such a sterile environment that people DO get sick if they come -- heaven forbid! -- in contact with a germ! Anyway, I used to hate to work with fresh spinach, even though I loved it, because it was so dirty when you'd buy it. Then if it was left too long before harvest, it could be tough if you didn't "stem" it. Give me a bag of those babies any time.

 

[VegasDramaQueen]

I too live on bagged greens, spinach, collard greens, salads, etc. and never had a problem. Dateline NBC did a whole segment recently on the 3 people who came down with an infection that was traced to bagged salad. All greens should be washed but NEVER with soap, in order to rinse off the pesticides, or whatever but remember that hundreds of thousands of bagged salads are sold every day and only 3 or 4 people came down with infections. They could have gotten this from any vegetable or fruit since they are all treated the same way. You can get e-coli from meat and poultry and people already have. You can scare the bejeepers out of anyone by saying "e-coli" but you can't be afraid to eat because of it.
And I agree that bagged salads smell and sometimes taste like the bag but they are sooooo convenient.

 

[bethzaring]

why I use "soap" on my vegetables

Greens are not the only vegetables I use liquid dish detergent on. I do not use pesticides or herbicides or any other "chemical" agents on my vegetables so that is not what I am trying to remove. I do use plenty of manure on the garden though. And my soil is heavy on the clay. This soil is rather tenacious, and as hard as I have tried, the clay soil does not come off with just plain water. The liquid dish detergent I use has a surfactant additive, which is what I need to remove the clay. There is a chemical bond between dirt and the surfactant that allows to soil to be removed from the vegetables and stay suspended in the suds and is easily removed with the rinse cycles.

I find it hard to be concerned about using a product that is made to wash my dishes that should not be used on what I place on my dishes, assuming both are thoroughly rinsed. Consider this, the three compartment sink set up that is required for food service operations utilizes bleach in the third and final sink in which the pots and pans and other utensils are dipped. There has to be a bleach residue on those pieces coming out of that sink, they are not rinsed. I rinse my vegetables twice after coming out of the soap solution. Even though I do not believe there is a soap residue on my vegetables using my method of washing, I have studied enough microbiology to think I want to limit my exposure to ingesting garden soil and manure. Even considering this, I still eat some of most of the vegetables I grow, right in the garden .

 

[mish]

Recently, I was doing some food shopping on line, and came across this product. I don't know what's in it, but it's new to me, and can't hurt to share information.

Veggie Wash Fruit & Vegetable Cleaner Spray

16 fl oz
$0.281/oz Our Price: $4.49​

 

[mish]

We can't all live in Calilfornia and Florida (and many of us don't particularly like those places), and it is wonderful to be able to have a fresh baby spinach or mixed greens salads in the dead of winter...

You could have fooled me, Claire. We're over-populated enough here as it is. So 'many' of you who don't particularly like CA - stay away! And, yes, it is nice to have fresh veggies almost all year around, as well as the quick bagged option, and warm temps about 9 months out of the year. So... Again, stay away.

 

[Claire]

I guess I could have been clearer! Rereading my email, I meant I didn't particularly want to live in those areas. I have; I know. Yes it is lovely to be able to get it fresh from your local farmers' market year round. But I'm grateful to be able to get it in bags in February, when there is nothing, but nothing, fresh and local. Yeah, there may be a little plastic-y flavor to it ... as opposed to canned and iceberg (which, of course is wrapped in plastic as well) it wins! Heck, no, I won't stay away from California and Florida -- I grew up partially in the former, and have many, many, many friends, family, and other loved ones living in both. I don't believe they are bad places, just that right now I'm enjoying having seasons but also don't intend on living on canned goods half of the year. After all, Californians and Floridians need the wheat, soy, and corn products that we produce, and no one expects their cooking oils, flour, etc, to be less than 3 days old before they'll use it. The reason we don't have rickets and other diseases is because we have such diversity, transportation, and preservation methods. I know you were being tongue in cheek, but I also understand where you're coming from (after all, half my family lives in California, and numerous friends, and I started and finished my school years there). You get tired of the California cliches and jokes.