Salad Greens

As a kid, I watched almost every cooking show on Philippine TV while growing up. And because there were only two at a time at most, half of them belonged to the Philippine cooking icon Nora Daza. On her show, she would always scurry to pound the head of lettuce at its root, thus loosening the core from the outer leaves. Upon release, she would munch on the entire core - its young leaves down to the 'heart' just prior to the external 'root' - with only a sprinkling of salt. "It is the most succulent part!" she always declared. Once a guest asked, "You do that without even washing it?" She then replied, "Well, the outer leaves get all the dirt, and the inside is all clean and protected. We wash only the loose leaves."

For a kid who abhored his veggies, it was an abominable sight. It was a nice thing I took on the habit of eating my greens some time in late grade school. (I don't know what happened, I must have hit my head hard during one of our PE classes.) But even today, I am still extremely careful with raw vegetables. I always prefer them cooked, or at the very least peeled or pickled. But you can't exactly do these to lettuce leaves!

According to a recent study published in the Journal of Applied and Environmental Microbiology, the iconic Nora Daza was mistaken all along! Bacteria actually prefer the inner (younger) leaves more than the outer ones! The higher nitrogen and carbon content of the inner, more succulent young leaves makes the micro environment more conducive for growth. The middle leaves do not have as much nitrogen content, and have usually less microbial growth.

Further, a different study found that bacteria may also survive inside protozoa found on salad greens (that ingested these bacteria) and after being vomited by the trusty amoeba, the bacteria later on multiply on leaves or inside humans after being eaten. This was likewise reported in an online article at New Scientist.

The bottom line is to wash ALL salad greens thoroughly prior to consumption!

The US web site Partnership for Food Safety Education linked through the Food Safety pages of the CDC has a wealth of information about precautions against food-borne illnesses. The methods outlined for handling fresh fruits and vegetables are really quite simple.

Whenever I'm preparing a salad with raw leaves, I always wash them anywhere from three to four times. First, I give it a rinse under cold running water to get rid of all the sand or dirt. Then I soak them in water with a vegetable wash for a few minutes to loosen all the stubborn dirt. Then a final rinse, or two. I wash and rinse ALL leaves - core and outer leaves - regardless of whether it looks soiled or not.

Formerly, I used mild detergents instead of a veggie wash in between rinses, but the CDC advises against it. Further, all sprouts have to be cooked after washing. Even squeezed fruit juices have to undergo treatment to ensure safety.

There have been some concerns in the past about the toxicity of fruit and vegetable washes. They have, however been on the shelves for quite some time and most seemed to have passed food and drug agency approvals. Typically they are loaded with various fruit and vegetable extracts that claim to have antibacterial properties.


Many of the vegetable wash manufacturers today claim that their products contain all-natural ingredients. Most claim to have citric acid and grapefruit seed extract (GFSE). The latter has been found to have some antimicrobial properties, and have even been found to prevent microbial injury. Some studies however seem to argue otherwise.
organophosphate.
fit wash