Michael Doyle, a professor of food microbiology and director of UGA’s Center for Food Safety, answers the question about whether rinsing fruits and vegetables can make a difference in improving food safety in an online story by The Wall Street Journal.
For greens containing harmful bacteria that already have been cut and packaged, the bacteria get deep in the leaves, according to Doyle.
“When that happens, there is no washing it out, no matter what you do,” he said. “This may be one reason why bag salads and cut greens have been some of the biggest culprits in spreading foodborne illnesses recently.”
Doyle said buying heads of greens are the safer choice over the bagged and cut varieties.
“Remove the outer leaves, wash your hands, then rinse the remaining leaves,” he said.
