A: Food safety expert, Caroline Gunn says: "Yes, the bagged salad leaves are washed in a chlorine rinse, which some industry sources confirm can reduce nutrient levels.
“There is definitely an effort to make that lettuce look appealing even if it's been out there for a few hours,” Newman says. It's not uncommon, he adds, for restaurants or grocery stores with salad bars to spray their raw produce with a sulfite preservative.
Even when they're labeled "ready to eat," pre-washed salad greens can contain harmful chemicals—and probably aren't even totally clean.
The moment you're home, pop open that bag of greens. Rip a fresh paper towel from the roll, slide it into the bag of greens, and seal with a chip clip. The paper towel will absorb moisture that would otherwise lead your leaves to rot. This will help the greens stay fresh, giving you more time to use up the bag.
The most common washing fluid used by packaging companies is water, with a small amount of chlorine mixed in. This is the same chemical used in swimming pools and it helps kill off bacteria. Even organic salad mixes use chlorine.
Kaye learned that washing with water reduces dirt, germs, and pesticide residues remaining on fruit and vegetable surfaces. Holding the fruit or vegetable under flowing water removes more than dunking the produce.
Bagging greens often involves a process known as modified atmosphere packaging. The amount of oxygen that typically exists in the atmosphere is reduced in the bag, replaced with an inert gas such as nitrogen. In essence, less oxygen is available to react with nutrients.
"Yes, the bagged salad leaves are washed in a chlorine rinse, which some industry sources confirm can reduce nutrient levels. But washing any salad vegetable leaves, even in water at home, will tend to rinse out some water-soluble nutrients.
Most Bagged Lettuces Don't Contain Preservatives
Some brands of bagged lettuce contain preservatives, but most do not. If you're concerned about preservatives in your food, you can check the label to see if it lists preservatives on the ingredient list.
If you've ever grown lettuce or been in a field of it, you know that greens grow pretty close to the ground, and they can have a hefty amount of dirt on them. So producers wash their greens before they bag them.
Some buy pre-cut, pre-mixed lettuce, which may contain preservatives. You can usually smell a chemical scent in lettuces like this.
But let's get one thing clear: Organic produce is not pesticide-free. There are pesticides used in organic farming, but they're derived from natural substances rather than synthetic ones, And as Carl Winter, Ph.
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.
Lettuces are frequently contaminated with what are considered the most potent pesticides used on food.
Sulfites can be a cause of asthma and allergy symptoms that can range from mild wheezing to potentially life-threatening anaphylactic reactions. You can find sulfites in certain foods and beverages, as well as a variety of medications.
Pirecris is a natural insecticide designed by Seipasa to control lettuce aphids quickly and effectively.
Indeed, many (though not all) food safety specialists advise against washing bagged lettuce or spinach. Why? First, because there's a good chance that if bacteria managed to survive commercial-scale washing with chlorinated water in the processing plant, a lot of them will survive your home washing, too.
Though the risk of contamination, recontamination, or new cross-contamination is real, it's on the low side if you're careful about kitchen safety. Inspect the packages of lettuce that you intend to buy and make sure they're cold and fresh looking. Check expiration dates, and wash lettuce before you intend to eat it.
As the lettuce ages, it emits gas, which puffs up the bag. While there is some truth to that theory, it was debunked by a few professionals. Lettuce definitely does give off gas after it's bagged, but it's also put into a plastic bag designed to modify the atmosphere within it.
If you have invested in bagged greens that are labeled "ready-to-eat," "no washing necessary," or "triple-washed," this means that they are already clean, according to the CDC. There's no need to turn to these instructions for how to wash lettuce.
Even though the data show that whole heads of lettuce not labeled "washed" don't necessarily have lower bacteria levels than packaged greens, their inner leaves aren't exposed to as many sources of contamination and are not handled as much as greens that are bagged, which further reduces the opportunities for ...
Most lettuce-packaging companies use a mixture of water and a small amount of chlorine to wash their vegetables. The chlorine is harmless to humans when dissolved in water in such a small amount, but it's deadly to bacteria such as E coli.
Bagged salads are not unprocessed food, and should be considered highly processed because they undergo extensive preparation to allow them to maintain freshness and to be safe to eat (see previous Step).
The plastic bags the salad comes in trap moisture inside, so the vegetables will always be a little wet.
In the case of lettuce in a bag, the modified atmosphere does two things. First, it changes the way the green leaves behave. The green leaves are still alive, even after you pick the lettuce, and you want to keep them alive as long as possible by changing their behavior. Second, it discourages bacteria.