Are bagged salads really so unhealthy?

[Kumquatsquash]

I eat a bag of salad a day. Those huge family sized bags from Lidl and Aldi. I've just read that because the leaves are washed and gassed with chlorine that they have almost no nutritional value. It also said they contain far more pesticides and preservatives to keep the leaves looking fresh for longer. Then there's the plastic bag they come in, the water used to wash them, the carbon footprint or transport, etc

It's almost impossible to eat healthy nowadays. I gave up almond milk because the industry is killing off the bees. All vegetables that don't cost a fortune are grown in artificial light and sprayed with round up apparently. On a positive note, if I have to start growing my own organic fruit and veg I'll finally lose weight as I can kill plants by just looking at them.

Some great tips on this thread. I've definitely have another go at growing my own this spring.

I live very close to Riverford farms and they do an organic fruit and veg box that's not too expensive. I think I'll make the switch once they start taking new orders again. I will miss my quick and easy salad bags though

@DinosaurDiana

My DS was a dish washer in an Italian restaurant. He said that when the side salad came back into the kitchen untouched they would scrape it back into the salad container 🤢🤮

That's nothing, I worked in a sandwich shop where the owner would rinse sliced ham and chicken under the tap if it started to smell then put it straight back in the fridge! This was in the 90s though and he got shut down eventually.

I think Sainsbury's do some bags of organic salad too? & I remember one brand saying they were washed in spring water, but can't remember which.

@Icenii we've been cubing swede & oven roasting it with other roast veg & it tastes much better than mashed.

Also tomatoes are a PITA to grow - we're experienced veg growers & still lost over 10 vines to blight one year so just don't bother with them now as we don't have a greenhouse.

You could also look out for things such as whole chicory or radicchio as salad leaves alternatives.

Leaves are really easy to grow indoors. Through the winter I grow pea shoots (from a box of dried peas from the supermarket). Google microgreens. Keep them on a bright windowsill and water just enough to stop them being dry.

If you’ve window sill space you can grow salad easily inside.

Ikea do (or did) a good home hydroponic system.

Have been buying and eating bagged salad and ready prepared vegetables for years. Wouldn’t buy anything else. Am fit and healthy.

Meh. A bag of salad is healthier than a bag of crisps.

Have you tried sprouting? Whole lentils/mung beans? They’re a nice snack, especially made into a salad with chickory leaves and orange segments.

OP, I few my own salad leaves last year. So nice to go into garden and pick your own. Even the kids are some (well one didn't but she loved to go and.pick them). I had rocket, 'lettuce leaves', mustard leaves and cress. One thing I will do different is start some fresh seeds a few weeks after the others have started sprouting properly. After about 6 weeks, they all went to seed but if I'd had some new to replace with, I think I'd have had leaves available for most of the summer.

Easy to do with a jar covered in muslin with an elastic band.

I just buy whole salads and rinse them at all.

I'm sure I read this years ago.

If you eat a bag a day-could you by the individual stuff & make it up?

Even stuff that's bagged but not in a sealed bag is better isn't it?

Meh. I doubt they are nutrition-less, but obvs the chlorine isn’t ideal. I eat them, but you can get organic bagged salad if you want? I know the Uk isn’t great for salad but if the choice where you shop is as bad as you say - try Waitrose?! - it’s quite good - or natoora deliver if you are in London

If you are going to wash salad leaves at home my tip is to get a salad spinner they are quite fun to spin somehow.

Get hold of the Riverford veg book for all sorts of delicious in season recipes. Post lockdown, visit the Field Kitchen for a meal for inspiration!

I think (biochemist who's main research was in the food industry but hasn't been involved for years and have no specific knowledge of salads) this is probably mostly rubbish.

The washing in chlorinated water is to remove pathogens. It won't reduce vitamins any more than normal washing.

Salad will lose a lot of nutrients when picked, more so for the loose leaves, but the bags are preserved in nitrogen and usually very quick to market. If the bag has a long date it will be fine.

A bit of perspective - the chlorine used to wash salad leaves in the UK is present in lower amounts than your drinking water.

www.which.co.uk/news/2020/09/chlorine-washed-chicken-vs-chlorine-washed-salad-leaves-whats-the-difference/

Salad leaves are washed to remove E. coli and other pathogens which are present in salad and do contribute to outbreaks most years.

It’s a non issue.

@Kumquatsquash Try cutngrow leaves, you grow in a tray and just cut some as you need it. If you've a windowsill near the sink it's less tricky to forget to water them.

Swede is lovely parboiled and roasted.

I watched one of the BBC pregrammes about food where they investigated this.

Their conclusion?
Fine, but you should wash the salad before eating.

BUT that was about health and nutrition, not about the plastic etc.
To be honest, the deal breaker for me if you are worried about the environment is where the leaves are grown and are they flown in? That outweighs all the others in terms of environment.

When i had my first GP appointments after getting positive pregnancy tests he always told me to avoid eating bagged salads along with the other things you shouldn't eat whilst pregnant. I never saw this advice anywhere else, i assumed it was something to do with the food poisoning risk.

When I worked in the food industry (technical role) and salad leaves were processed using O3 (ozone which is a powerful anti microbial through oxidation).

Asda do organic bagged salad which I’m guessing will be more affordable than Waitrose.

Pesticide and insecticide levels are monitored and have upper limits for fruit, salad, veg whether its organic or not, for safety.

It's fine. It's salad. Ignore the screaming headlines... eating leaves can only ever be good for you.