By Brian Schultz
Next time you open up a bagged salad purchased at the grocery store, it may be a wise idea to wash the lettuce, even if it says ‘prewashed.’
The March issue of Consumer Reports Magazine suggests bagged salad isn’t as clean as it appears. Traces of residual soil were found in numerous samples during testing, but varied based on the manufacturer in 208 samplings.
Four samples taken from national brands like Dole, Earthbound Farm Organic, and Fresh Express had at least one package with relatively high levels of total coliforms or enterococcus. The upside is that testers did not find E. coli, listeria, or salmonella, which most consumers surveyed found surprising.
Many of the precut/prewashed salads found in Canadian grocery stores are imported from the U.S.
The information published by Consumer Reports reiterates what was released to the public earlier this month by the Consumers Union.
