topic Re: I'm Not Sure Which One Is Healthier in Kitchen

I'm Not Sure Which One Is Healthier

Desert Lily — Sat, 08 Apr 2023 15:39:47 GMT

The past few years, there's been several recalls of bagged salad mixes that made me apprehensive about buying them. I stopped buying anything with Romaine. Baby spinach is a fave of mine, but I cut that back. I washed & rinsed whatever I bought.

I used to doctor a bagged salad with grape tomatoes, ripe olives, etc.

Once, I washed the grape tomatoes with dish soap water but didn't rinse them well enough, and had a nasty stomach ache after eating them.

Then came the pandemic. I didn't buy any fresh produce during the pandemic because I didn't want anyone directly touching my food, no matter how much I washed it.

I've been eating frozen & canned veggies and more processed foods that I know aren't always healthy.

A year ago, I started eating fresh bananas. Confession: I use a wipee to clean the peel first.

This week is the first week I've purchased bag salad in over 3 years. It has iceberg lettuce, carrots, & purple cabbage. I washed it with Ivory dish soap & rinsed in a strainer.

I feel like I'm taking a chance eating bagged salad, but I've missed fresh produce.

I also bought grape tomatoes. Yes, I washed & rinsed them well.

With past salad recalls (& tomatoes), I'm still not sure if I'm doing my health a favor.

Is it healthier to eat the salads, or is it healthier to eat frozen and canned veggies?

Re: I'm Not Sure Which One Is Healthier

RhondaRena — Sat, 08 Apr 2023 15:45:57 GMT

If you can find s local farmer I would suggest so. My mom and I got wonderful things this morning at our Farmers Market without pesticides and no harmful Bioengineering.

Re: I'm Not Sure Which One Is Healthier

Sooner — Sat, 08 Apr 2023 15:51:13 GMT

@RhondaRena wrote:
If you can find s local farmer I would suggest so. My mom and I got wonderful things this morning at our Farmers Market without pesticides and no harmful Bioengineering.

@RhondaRena I actually trust commercially grown vegetables more because they have a chance of being federally inspected. Locally grown stuff is totally dependent on what the grower says. And they are just people. Some are good, some aren't.

Re: I'm Not Sure Which One Is Healthier

Ladyrain — Sat, 08 Apr 2023 15:58:32 GMT

I don't think any fresh produce is 100% foolproof - not even what's grown in our backyards. (Who know what critter sauntered through the garden or took a nibble.) Perhaps washing/ringsing with a product made specifically for that purpose is better than soap? I don't know; I just rinse or wipe my fruits and vegetables and hope for the best. So far so good. - I have read more than once that frozen produce is almost better than fresh, as it (most of it anyway) is frozen immediately, versus being on a truck and transported across the country like fresh produce is.

Re: I'm Not Sure Which One Is Healthier

Desert Lily — Sat, 08 Apr 2023 16:05:24 GMT

@RhondaRena I think the recalls were due to bacteria like e-coli, but not for pesticides.

I'm more worried about the bacteria, but I care about both.

Re: I'm Not Sure Which One Is Healthier

4kitties — Sat, 08 Apr 2023 16:07:29 GMT

I guess I just throw caution to the wind as I eat bananas and never wipe them. Just peel and eat.

I eat bagged salad several times a week. No illness for me yet.

I eat frozen veggies and fresh fruits and veggies. I rinse the fruits and veggies well and then eat or cook and eat. I avoid canned as much as possible, as the veggies have too much sodium and are over cooked and mushy.

When possible, I buy my produce from an organic farmer. I know the family and trust them. Their produce is beyond description in flavor!

Re: I'm Not Sure Which One Is Healthier

Pezzie — Sat, 08 Apr 2023 16:30:19 GMT

We eat a lot of salads, but I never buy prepackaged salads or kits, as they are the subject of most recalls. I buy romaine lettuce and wash each leaf and everything else I put in the salad. Haven't had any issues.

Re: I'm Not Sure Which One Is Healthier

RedTop — Sat, 08 Apr 2023 16:54:46 GMT

My husband is really the only one who likes salad in this house. I only buy heads of iceberg lettuce, along with romaine, never bagged salad mix.

Re: I'm Not Sure Which One Is Healthier

CrazyKittyLvr2 — Sat, 08 Apr 2023 17:27:01 GMT

I must live on the edge. I give greens a quick rinse under cold water. Period. I peel a banana and eat it. I've made it to 72 without sterlizing my food and no one has ever gotten sick from eating my salads.

Re: I'm Not Sure Which One Is Healthier

781Florist — Sat, 08 Apr 2023 20:51:09 GMT

@CrazyKittyLvr2 Same here. I rinse lettuce and tomatoes briefly and never do anything to bananas except peel and eat. I am near 70.

Re: I'm Not Sure Which One Is Healthier

ECBG — Sat, 08 Apr 2023 22:24:41 GMT

@Pezzie wrote:
We eat a lot of salads, but I never buy prepackaged salads or kits, as they are the subject of most recalls. I buy romaine lettuce and wash each leaf and everything else I put in the salad. Haven't had any issues.

@Pezzie

I have a salad spinner and find a types of lettuce keeps in a zip lock with a paper towel for over a week.

Pre packaged goes bad quickly and has an odor.

Re: I'm Not Sure Which One Is Healthier

jannabelle1 — Sat, 08 Apr 2023 22:56:34 GMT

You're sort of talking two different things IMO. A crisp, fresh salad really isn't comparable to frozen vegetables. If you're that uncomfortable eating fresh food though, I'd stay away from it and just eat frozen vegetables and not worry about it. Frozen vegetables are full of nutrition because of the process they use. Canned veggies are also nutritious (minus the salt - so buy low-sodium). Most grocers or Amazon sell a fresh veggie "wash"....that would certainly be better than washing your food in soap!

Washing a banana peel isn't necessary at all. The peel is the protection for what's inside.

Re: I'm Not Sure Which One Is Healthier

KatieB — Sat, 08 Apr 2023 22:58:13 GMT

Wow, I've never heard of washing vegetables with SOAP and water. SMH on that one..

Re: I'm Not Sure Which One Is Healthier

CatsyCline — Sat, 08 Apr 2023 23:23:31 GMT

we grow our leaf lettuce until the weather gets too hot and then i like the organic hydroponic butter lettuce that comes in a clamshell pckg. it's very tender and good. can be stetched with iceberg or the romaine triples. i like the canadian Romaine but they too have had issues with tainted produce.

don't care much for bagged lettuce mixes.

don't worry too much about tomatoes. we grow or i get the Campari in the pkg.

watermelons i wash the rind with soap and water and dry because you don't really know who has handled the melons! same for mangoes.

For fruits like blackberries, i soak 15 min in water w a dash of white or cider vinegar. rinse 2x and dry in seive. cuts down on mold too. grapes and strawberries i take my chances and just rinse. apples i wash if i'm going to eat the peel.

Re: I'm Not Sure Which One Is Healthier

scatcat — Sat, 08 Apr 2023 23:34:09 GMT

What's getting thru a banana peel?

I've read that organic bananas are not worth the price bump due to the "protective covering"

Re: I'm Not Sure Which One Is Healthier

Zhills — Sun, 09 Apr 2023 15:24:54 GMT

With such a small nutritional difference, I would eat the one I like the best!

Re: I'm Not Sure Which One Is Healthier

Zhills — Sun, 09 Apr 2023 15:27:22 GMT

@scatcat wrote:
What's getting thru a banana peel?
I've read that organic bananas are not worth the price bump due to the "protective covering"

You don't know where the bananas have been or how they were handled.

You handle the peel, then take the banana in your hand and you have all that ?? on your banana to eat!

Re: I'm Not Sure Which One Is Healthier

Sooner — Sun, 09 Apr 2023 15:35:48 GMT

I worry a lot about cleanliness in produce. Most of the contamination comes from runoff from animal or poultry farming, unclean conditions in fields where bathroom facilities are not available, animal contamination, etc.

Crops are raised in dirt, sometimes harvested in mud, put in dirty trucks, and processed where water for processing may be contaminated. I worry about all this because I was raised with farming. But I worry more about local uninspected things, canned foods, baked goods at farm markets, etc.

And yes, I actually worry more about bacteria than chemical contamination (although I always buy organic when I can) and have no worries about GMO. It is at the bottom of any concern I have.

So I try really hard to see that things are clean. I can remember all the turnip greens from my cousin and the spinach WE grew and how careful we were to wash it well.

Re: I'm Not Sure Which One Is Healthier

Desert Lily — Sun, 09 Apr 2023 16:07:33 GMT

@Mindy D was kind enough to post yesterday's recall of Fresh Express and Publix Salad Kits under "Wellness."

I guess this is the crux of what I mean:

Is it better to eat fresh salad that may later have a recall for bacteria? (but very healthy if it's fine)

Or, is it better to eat frozen and canned veggies? (canned veggies can also be no/low sodium)

Fresh is normally more appetizing to me, but...

Re: I'm Not Sure Which One Is Healthier

drizzellla — Sun, 09 Apr 2023 18:11:17 GMT

I continue to buy bags of Romaine Lettuce at Sam's Club. I have never known the lettuce to have been recalled. The same company also makes different bagged salads. I always buy them too.

I watched the show "Inside the Factory". They compared different fresh vegetables to frozen.vegetables. There were minor differences but as a rule they were the same. Freezing ensures that a majority of nutrients, including vitamins and minerals, are preserved. Because they were picked and frozen the same day.