Just in case you don't wash packaged salad greens

[Jenise]

Consumer Reports just did some tests. Results as expected, but still...

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine-archive/2010/march/recalls-and-safety-alerts/bagged-salad/index.htm

Cooks Illustrated did a test and specifically advised to not re-wash pre-washed greens.

Why not, Dave? I can't imagine how it could hurt?

[Jenise]

Cooks Illustrated did a test and specifically advised to not re-wash pre-washed greens.

Seriously? Like Celia asks, why not? Even if you decided to live dangerously and not wash, why would you specifically avoid rewashing?

Simple...unless used immediately the more one re-washes fruits or vegetables the faster they both wilt and ripen.

Best
Rogov

[Jenise]

Simple...unless used immediately the more one re-washes fruits or vegetables the faster they both wilt and ripen.

Best
Rogov

Oh of course. But one presumes one would only wash what one was going to use immediately prior to use, you wouldn't wash it and put it back. Right?

Why not, Dave? I can't imagine how it could hurt?

Hi *C*,

I was rather suspicious of their claim because I always thought "the more washing, the better". Here is their reasoning and take notice of the swab test...

To kill off bacteria, packagers of prewashed organic and conventional lettuce first rinse the greens with water and then typically spray them with a diluted chlorine solution. Despite these measures, E. coli outbreaks associated with prewashed bagged lettuce and spinach have been reported. Nonetheless, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and many other food safety experts take the position that prewashed lettuce can be used without further washing. Here's why: prewashed produce is likely to have fewer bacteria (or none at all) then your kitchen sink or counter, and washing the greens may actually introduce bacteria. (We found this to be the case when we took swabs from prewashed lettuce straight from the bag and swabs from lettuce we "rewashed" in the test kitchen. The rewashed lettuce grew bacteria in a petri dish, while the untouched prewashed greens did not.) Furthermore, according to Trevor Suslow, a microbiologist specializing in food safety research at the University of California, Davis, if pathogens such as E. coli or Salmonella are actually present, rewashing removes very few cells and may actually spread contamination.


I do not use bags of lettuce but this prompted me to think about how I wash and prepare vegetables on my cutting boards and counter tops. My guess is that my surfaces are not as sterile as those in the Cook's Illustrated Test Kitchen.

Thanks Dave. Of course, this has all just made it easy for me - don't buy bags of prewashed lettuce! Sprayed with diluted chlorine!!!! No thanks!

On the rare occasion that I have pre-washed greens in the house, I always rewash them.

I avoid recontamination by washing in the salad spinner bowl, and then spinning dry. It amazes me that people think they can wash greens in a sink full of water. The kitchen sink is never sanitary.

Once you open a bag of greens, you may as well wash as much as you want, even if you don't use them all. Just place the washed and spun extras into a clean bag lined with paper towel, or into a plastic bowl with tight lid. The greens will keep just fine. The last think you want is to leave the bagged greens in the bag with decaying leaves, which will hasten contamination and speed the decay. So get the greens out of the original bag as quickly as you can, wash them and use them.