Comments on: Packaged Salad Can Contain High Levels of Bacteria

By: chowmama | Weekly Digest (+ Non-Resolution Update #3)

chowmama | Weekly Digest (+ Non-Resolution Update #3) — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 12:03:08 +0000

[...] GRODY alert! Consumer Reports’ latest test of packaged greens revealed high levels of bacteria that are common indicators of poor sanitation and fecal contamination. People! Wash. Your. Greens. (via Civil Eats) [...]

By: Rebecca T. of HonestMeat

Rebecca T. of HonestMeat — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 01:12:14 +0000

Consumers Best line of defense should read:
-Grow the greens yourself, if you can, and pick fresh for your meal. Wash it first.
-If you don’t grow them, buy leafy greens in fresh bunches or whole heads direct from a farmer that you know. Wash those greens.
-Support growers who support biodiversity and healthy, microbially-rich soils that naturally suppress pathogenic bacteria. Sterilized farming only supports the opposite (kill off the good & watch the bad run rampant)
-Don’t support any one-size-fits-all approach by the FDA nor USDA or it will eliminate small and mid-size producers or force them to stop growing leafy greens.
-Realize that the illness and death caused by food-borne pathogens is considerably less than getting struck by lightening and therefore does not warrant the overly-regulated hysteria that is occurring right now.

By: Terri

Terri — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 14:36:12 +0000

I’m sorry there wasn’t more exploration of the source of the contamination in this story.

Is it possible that the contamination is coming from produce grown in soil amended with biosolids/sludge from municipal sewage plants?

By: Packaged Salad in Supermarket a haven for bacteria « Green Goods Guide

Packaged Salad in Supermarket a haven for bacteria « Green Goods Guide — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 03:08:20 +0000

[...] Civil Eats Blog is reporting that “‘Consumer Reports’ latest tests of packaged leafy greens found bacteria that are common indicators of poor sanitation and fecal contamination, in some cases, at rather high levels. The story appears in the March 2010 issue of Consumer Reports and is also available free online.” [...]

By: Want Another Reason To Grow Your Own Salad Greens?

Want Another Reason To Grow Your Own Salad Greens? — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 02:45:58 +0000

[...] to read the rest of the Consumer Reports story on contaminated bagged salad greens. Read Civil Eats blog take on the [...]

By: Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 22:45:43 +0000

Smokey: I do not think that the food safety bills constitute an elaborate Monsanto conspiracy, and I wish people would stop saying that it is. They're overshadowing the many legitimate reasons to fear the bills. With that said, Monsanto is an important member of an agribusiness lobby group, the United Fresh Produce Association, which has by its own admissionworked closely with Congress on writing the food safety bills, one that has passed the House, and one that will come up in the Senate very soon. If you're concerned about the language of the bills, please let your Senator know!

By: Mark Elliston

Mark Elliston — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:48:44 +0000

product to wash with, available at trader joes, I’m going to try it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=441KnMW4jqc

By: Smokey

Smokey — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 18:00:17 +0000

Has anyone gotten Monsanto’s take on this? Based on their demonstrated consumer safety record, maybe we should get their opinion.(?)

By: Smokey

Smokey — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:27:36 +0000

HooRAY for Kimberly! Go get ‘em

I am all for food safety. However, my distrust for the USDA runs deep…even deeper for politicians making policy laws.

The USDA has shown itself to being too often on the side of “Big AG”. In personal experience, The USDA inspectors have always made it harder on us when we process our beef. They create paperwork and delay on a consistent basis while “rubber stamping” the larger producers. AND the inspector always moves the feedlot guys to the head of the line with just a perfunctionary inspection of a large number of animals. My 2-3 animals have to wait, sometimes up to 10 days (which creates stress and weight loss), and then he inspects EACH one….ugh!

I know what it costs me in both time and money, but I cannot fathom what the “salad rules” will do to the average truck farm.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 16:30:02 +0000

If Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, and JP Morgan were all lining up in support of the government's plan for "financial reform," we'd all be a little suspicious, right? So isn't it also a little suspicious that the corporations lining up in support of "food safety reform" include Dole, Chiquita, Monsanto, McDonald's, Kraft, PepsiCo, ConAgra, and many others? I hope that everyone reading this is not so desperate for "food safety" that they will accept anything by that name. Giving a stinker of a bill a good title does not make it stink any less (see the PATRIOT Act). Check out the Cornucopia Institute for some ideas on how to make food safety safer. As you can see here, industry lobbyists like the Grocery Manufacturers Association, the United Fresh Produce Association, and the National Restaurant Association, among others, have all thrown their support to the existing bill.