JoAnn L.
Master Chef
How can you tell if your lettuce has gone bad? I know if it get soft and slimmy, you throw it out. But my dad got very ill in a restaurant just eating a salad, it looked alright. I just don't know how long to keep it now.
buckytom said:the bib lettuce starts drooling, and the iceberg looks kinda frozen...
sorry, couldn't help myself.
Alix said:Joann, likely he got sick for some other reason (improper prep like a dirty knife or something like that) not because the lettuce was bad. There is no mistaking bad lettuce, it is slimy and brown and generally disgusting. Sometimes part of it will have rusty looking spots, but if you cut those off the rest is usually OK. Hope that helps.
Does nobody remember the Hep A and E. coli outbreaks a few years back because of contaminated veges like lettuce, spinach and green onions? If it was the lettuce, a whole lot more people are probably sick. And the outbreaks were from produce grown in the States, as well as Mexico. I also think I'd probably report it to the Health Dept instead of the restaurant, as they would have a vested interest in keeping a bad food situation quiet....
The original post was written 7 years ago, so before several of those outbreaks. The article bucky posted said E. coli can be found on any produce, but when bagged lettuce is pre-cut in the field, bacteria can get inside where it can't be washed off. That's one reason why I never buy pre-cut salad greens.
the romaine just says, "et tu, beet tops? et tu?"
It sounds as if it wasn't washed properly (if at all) and was contaminated with nasties. It could have been cut with a knife used to cut raw meat (very bad kitchen practice) and suffered cross contamination that way.How can you tell if your lettuce has gone bad? I know if it get soft and slimmy, you throw it out. But my dad got very ill in a restaurant just eating a salad, it looked alright. I just don't know how long to keep it now.