High Levels of Fecal Material Found in Packaged Salads

By Sherrie Gulmahamad on February 3rd, 2010

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The results from Consumer Reports’ latest tests of packaged leafy greens are enough to knock the lazy out of you! The tests conducted on bagged greens were funded by the Pew Health Group, and were looking specifically for coliforms and Enterococcus, which are “indicator organisms” that raise red flags about sanitation during its preparation and packaging. While deadly strains of E Coli, Salmonella, and Listeria were not found, 39% of samples did exceed what is considered a safe amount of bacteria, and 23% exceeded a considered safe amount of Enterococcus. That’s…that’s poop, people.

And now, word from a scientist:

“Although these ‘indicator’ bacteria generally do not make healthy people sick, the tests show not enough is being done to assure the safety or cleanliness of leafy greens.”
Dr. Michael Hansen, senior scientist at Consumers Unions, nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports.

CU urges consumers to buy packaged leafy greens far away from their use-by date, to wash the stuff even though the package states it is triple washed, and store and prepare your greens away from where you store or prepare your meats.

I was a bit freaked out upon reading this because being a rather lazy gourmand, I do tend to buy the big bags of arugula and then sometimes skip that extra washing step because the bag keeps promising they’ve washed it for me — but never again! Eating a mere sprinkling of poop does not go with Ina’s easy & delicious vinaigrette, thank you very much.

There’s a lot of debate about whether eating organic produce is any better for you. Some voices are dismayed at the fact that the leafy greens themselves are getting an unfair reputation with consumers — it’s not the healthy piece of kale making you sick, rather, it’s what got ON it. Supporting small family farms that are geographically far from livestock is also a good way to get better greens. Avoiding the bags altogether is another quick fix — the greens in those bags aren’t traceable to one source of contamination and often cross-contaminate the clean produce it gets thrown in with.

But the fastest and most debate-free way to stay well is really to just wash your stuff. Take the time! Wash your kale! Rinse that spinach! Douse those green onions!