Salad safety

Michael Doyle, director of UGA’s Center for Food Safety, was quoted in the Miami Herald in an article concerning the safety of pre-washed packaged salads. Last month, packaged spinach and lettuce mixes were tied to several E. coli outbreaks in the Midwest. Doyle says, “We know if the organism contaminates the lettuce, it’s difficult to wash away. . . . If you were to eat bagged lettuce, the likelihood of becoming ill is quite low, but that’s not to say it doesn’t happen.”