Many people, myself included, will tell you that buying bagged, pre-washed lettuce mixes makes it easier to eat more salad. More organized folks will point out that washing and drying your own lettuce isn't that difficult and that bagged lettuce isn't always that safe. What's the best way to go? Well, the answer is complicated.
I picked up the bag of lettuce pictured above at Happy Boy Farms, one of my favorite stalls at my local farmers' market. I was first attracted to the lettuce because of the pretty scattering of edible flowers they sprinkle into each bag, but it's the actual lettuce mix that keeps me coming back for more. The lettuce greens change with the seasons and are always fresh, crisp and full of flavor. I trust this farmer to produce safe, healthy greens and love the convenience of the pre-washed lettuce.
The bagged lettuce found in most grocery stores is another, more complicated matter. The lettuce leaves, even those labeled organic, are likely to have been washed in a weak chlorine solution. This is both good and bad news. The good news is that the chlorine is there to destroy any harmful bacteria that can lead to sickness. The bad news is that most folks would prefer not to eat something that has been washed in chlorine, no matter how diluted.
Would rewashing your bagged lettuces help? Well, besides the fact that it defeats the reason for buying the pre-washed lettuce to begin with, there is also the possibility of contaminating the lettuce in your own kitchen. It's very possible that your kitchen is not nearly as clean as a lettuce processing plant, which uses industrial strength cleaners and has rigorous cleaning protocols.
The bottom line is that many foods, and especially raw foods like lettuce, aren't sterile, and for the most part that's okay. While no one wants to buy contaminated lettuce, you can find a middle ground. I recommend buying your lettuce from a smaller producer whose farming practices you trust. Keeping them refrigerated and using them up quickly are also good ways to keep bacteria at bay.
Don't assume, though, that just because you purchase your lettuce at the farmers' market that it isn't washed in the chlorine solution. Many organic famers use this method to assure that no harmful bacteria is making its way into your salads. If this practice is a concern for you, be sure to engage one of the people at the stall about their washing and testing practices.
For More Information:
• Food Poising Bulletin on the safety of pre-washed lettuce
• Growing Produce on alternative ways to decontaminate lettuce.
• Happy Boy Farms on their lettuce mix.
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Growing your own lettuce is so mind-numbingly easy, if people are uncomfortable with rinsed lettuce, just DIY. Also please people, bring your Chico (or other) reuseable nylon produce bags! No excuse for using plastic OR paper when these bags are available. Also keeps loose produce from touching nasty stuff around it!
ps I just love the edible flowers mixed in! I wish I lived close by so I could pick some up myself.
Yay for Happy Boy Farms! One of my fave stalls at our Farmer's Market, too. :-)
Regarding eating things quickly, i.e., soon after you've bought them at the store: I usually try to wait a day or two before consumption of produce to make sure there is no recall of the product due to contamination. I figure if the spinach contains salmonella, they'll announce it on the news before I get around to eating it. Or is this wrong? Do the poisoning symptoms take a week to show up?
Having lived in Korea where you wash everything in a weak chlorine solution, doing it here doesn't bother me. We did it there because they use the honey pot to fertalize everything. But, their fresh produce was delicious and I have never had such beautiful and tasty strawberries. Get over it people.
Living in Boston, the only regular farmer's markets I see are just vendors selling the same shipped produce as the stores, and the lettuce my rabbit and I like best is baby romaine, which can only be bought in a plastic tub.
I've bought unwashed lettuce mixes and spinach at farmers markets. It lasts for weeks! The washed stuff gets slimy much quicker. I'll go for the unwashed stuff and wash it myself. Never occurred to me to use bleach though, and I never had any problems. Incidentally, a few weeks ago there was an article here saying to wash raspberries in a vinegar/water solution. Wouldn't this be good for other veggies/fruits? Why use bleach if vinegar would work?