26-01-2014, 12:33 AM
1
Why I no longer buy pre-washed salads
For a long time I have been a bit sceptical of pre-washed salads, as often, it just smelt dirty!And when some of the countries our produce comes from is in the tropics, it's just not worth the risk:
http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/parasit...nada-1.1182977
26-01-2014, 09:22 AM
3
Re: Why I no longer buy pre-washed salads
We used to buy a couple of bags when we went on holiday as a treat, then we had a bag that when opened smelled like a swimming pool so we never bought one again. They must use a strong disinfectant we imagined for it to smell so strongly.
26-01-2014, 10:43 AM
4
Re: Why I no longer buy pre-washed salads
I occasionally buy pre packed salads for BBQs and they are fine, certainly no unpleasant smells.One of the great things about Australia and its strict quarantine laws is that 99.999999% of the fresh food we buy in the shops is grown here (65% of our food is exported).
When I visited the UK it mildly amused me to see two piles of identical looking brown onions (for example) in the supermarket one labelled 'from Spain' and the other labelled 'from Italy' selling at the same price (why bother?). Here you see one pile of brown onions and that is it - its source changes according to the growing season; it might come from Tasmania at one time and southern Queensland three months later though you would never know unless you listened to the market reports on the radio.
26-01-2014, 11:17 AM
6
Re: Why I no longer buy pre-washed salads
I have never bought it because it seems expensive and wasteful to me and I don't like my food messed around with by other people. I buy lettuce etc and discard the outer leaves.I know some suppliers wash salad stuff in a chlorine solution too which isn't very attractive.
26-01-2014, 01:24 PM
8
Re: Why I no longer buy pre-washed salads
I used to waste loads of salad stuff but not anymore. I mainly buy stuff that will keep for a while; hard cabbages, onions, peppars, carrots etc. I used to buy them prepared salad bags but they don't stay fresh for long and turn in to a right goey mess quite quickly, which is enough to turn you off salad for life. My salad maker rocks though and makes great salads in no time.
26-01-2014, 01:29 PM
9
Re: Why I no longer buy pre-washed salads
Originally Posted by Julie1962
->
We used to buy a couple of bags when we went on holiday as a treat, then we had a bag that when opened smelled like a swimming pool so we never bought one again. They must use a strong disinfectant we imagined for it to smell so strongly.
They do Julie. I believe its a type of sterilizer. If I have the odd bag, I always wash it again before use.
26-01-2014, 01:31 PM
10
Re: Why I no longer buy pre-washed salads
Originally Posted by Julie1962
->
They have to label where things come from EU rules I believe so we are supposed to calculate the air miles and buy the "greener" product. Personally I look for the cheapest.
We do the same - we buy the cheapest because we're not in the position to go for the greener product because it's more expensive.
We always make up our own salads now and never much more than we can eat in 2 days, just in case.
Never really had any faith in bagged salads to be honest - too much of a risk I've always thought.
We gave them up years ago after buying one only to find it stank of stagnant water when we opened it!
Provided I get any early enough start, we'll eat our own salad veg most of the Summer right up to September or even October.
I made the mistake of eating salad in a Spanish Hotel a few years ago because I was told it was always freshly washed.
Unfortunately although it was freshly washed, it was washed in tap water, and we later found out that the hotel advises against drinking their tap water!
Spanish water varies quite a lot and in some parts of the country there will be a higher mineral content than in others, which may upset the sensitive. stevmk2
|
|
