topic Wash your greens! in Kitchen

Wash your greens!

Tink814 — Sat, 28 Aug 2021 00:34:40 GMT

A few weeks ago I prepping my salads for the upcoming week. I typically rinse the greens off and dry them in my salad spinner, but I was feeling lazy that weekend. The kale I bought claimed it was pre-washed and ready to use. I was measuring out the amount I needed when I came across a large dead bug. I just wanted to share my story in case anyone out there eats greens right out of the packaging without washing it.

Re: Wash your greens!

Goldengate8361 — Sat, 28 Aug 2021 00:38:29 GMT

Oh my goodness! That freaks me out a bit. I tend to not wash my greens that come in the bags. Maybe I will just give up greens!

Re: Wash your greens!

jannabelle1 — Sat, 28 Aug 2021 02:19:06 GMT

Good recommendation to rinse all greens (I can't say that I actually "wash" them). I'd mention though, I'm 73 and have been buying bags of greens for years and have never found any bugs or anything else gross in any of those bags.

Re: Wash your greens!

Tink814 — Sat, 28 Aug 2021 02:28:57 GMT

@jannabelle1 wrote:
Good recommendation to rinse all greens (I can't say that I actually "wash" them). I'd mention though, I'm 73 and have been buying bags of greens for years and have never found any bugs or anything else gross in any of those bags.

This was my first time ever seeing a dead bug in a bag of greens. I'm sure it's very rare, but I just wanted to warm people.

Re: Wash your greens!

ID2 — Sat, 28 Aug 2021 09:49:32 GMT

I don't buy my produce ever from the supermarket. Yuck. I buy from local farms. (gotta help my locals!). I have to wash my produce because its freshly picked. I go home from the farmers markets and spend a good hour cleaning. Delicious!

Re: Wash your greens!

depglass — Sat, 28 Aug 2021 12:47:51 GMT

I use organic spinach for my morning salad (eaten as part of a warfarin blood thinner regimen). It has supposedly been washed three times and I've never had one problem with it in three years. I guess I would find a bug whether I washed it or not. Any other greens like a pepper, etc. would at least get a rinse.

Re: Wash your greens!

amyb — Sat, 28 Aug 2021 12:56:32 GMT

@ID2 wrote:
I don't buy my produce ever from the supermarket. Yuck. I buy from local farms. (gotta help my locals!). I have to wash my produce because its freshly picked. I go home from the farmers markets and spend a good hour cleaning. Delicious!

I do this too...all summer until our farmer's markets close in October. Then, unfortunately, I'm back to regular grocery.

I look forward to and love getting the, much more fresh and delicious, produce all summer (I'm in CT), and I love knowing I'm supporting our local farmer's who I'm so grateful to have. I'm always sad when it goes away for the next 8 months.

I do live near a local farm and they have an all-year indoor market, (vs. the outdoor summer ones), but even there, due to us being in the Northeast...they offer many commercial greens from elsewhere in fall/winter. But they still have many good items too.

Anyway...to OP's point...interesting and gross...and I guess it can happen, rare as it might be. I buy the boxed organic greens, and never prewash them, especially since they are the tender greens that really get water-logged, even though I too use a spinner. Never have had a problem, that I know of!... but....food for thought.

Re: Wash your greens!

kitty60 — Sat, 28 Aug 2021 13:02:23 GMT

I always wash my produce.

Wil never forget being at a function and taking a fork of salad to find a large tomato worm on top. Lost my appetite.

Re: Wash your greens!

Sooner — Sat, 28 Aug 2021 14:24:16 GMT

It's food. Most of it is grown in the dirt in open air. Bugs are all over unless you spray it for pesticides. Corn? If there are no worms it's because thre's lots of pesticide.

People harvest food wearing muddy boots and their hands get dirty. Equipment gets dirty. Food is a dirty business.

So yes, wash. And grown local or corporate farm raised neither is inherintly more free of dirt. Frankly, probably corporate grown has less dirt and bugs involved if you really break down the proess.

But bugs and worms gotta eat too!

Re: Wash your greens!

Caaareful Shopper — Sat, 28 Aug 2021 15:51:34 GMT

It does not matter -- local farm produce or grocery store -- you always have to wash your greens or any vegetables. Even those grocery store greens in bags or containers that market theirs as "Triple Washed!" must always be washed yourself. I've never had dead bugs, but I have had the pebbly brown grit a time or two.

Re: Wash your greens!

SilleeMee — Sat, 28 Aug 2021 16:45:34 GMT

The leaves on leafy green veggies have what botanists call stomata. Those are the microscopic pores on a leaf which allows the plant to 'breathe'. But sometimes veggies get contaminated with unwanted bacteria, for example E. coli, and the little bacteria can hide inside the stomata pores which makes it extremely difficult to wash away. Even using special veggie cleansing products can be unsuccessful in that case as well. Washing greens will only rinse away surface dirt and some bacteria but not all.

Contaminated spinach leaf showing a stomata with bacteria inside and outside the pore:

Re: Wash your greens!

chrystaltree — Wed, 01 Sep 2021 21:47:08 GMT

Who in this world does not thougoughly wash their greens and salad vegetables? That's probably the first think I learned when I was a kid helping my Nana and Mom in the kitchen.

Re: Wash your greens!

tsavorite — Fri, 03 Sep 2021 22:04:49 GMT

@SilleeMee Feel kinda sick looking at that blown up photo LOL! I do use the mixed greens Organic Triple washed blend for salads....and bagged blend or romaine lettuce. I do not wash any of it again as it is all pre-washed. I do wash my roma tomatoes and cucumbers before we chop and eat them but that's all I do and we are all healthy and fine here. I have never gotten sick. In fact my friend who had a kidney transplant does this and does not rewash her greens for salad prep. What's the point of buying it washed already to go home and have the chore of doing it again?