In the November, 2000 issue of GOURMET MAGAZINE, a writer described an evening wherein he was having dinner at New York�s most expensive restaurant and discovered a caterpillar wriggling in his salad. If this were an isolated incident, it would be horrible enough, but it seems to be part of a pattern. And it did not just start. Reportedly, the worst salad-caused outbreak on record occurred between May 28 and June 27, 1966, when 61 people in New York, Connecticut and Illinois became infected with E. Coli. 21 of them had to be hospitalized, and the cause turned out to be a Spring mix from one small California farm.

The medical industry has wisely cautioned us all to take extra precautions with raw products which grow in dirt, and which we do not plan to cook before eating. Granted, the vegetables contain more nutrition before they are cooked, but if not handled correctly, that may not be all they contain!

When purchasing, we are warned, try not to buy lettuce from a store which piles new lettuce atop the old. Refrigerated produce should only be kept in refrigerators with temperature below 41 degrees. In August of 1999, The University of Georgia�s Center For Food Safety compared organic to conventional spring mix, used for salads. Albeit to different degrees, Salmonella and E. Coli were found present in both groups. Retailers are advised by producers to treat the packages like ice cream, but there is no standard mechanism to enforce the suggestion.

Some were found storing lettuce under raw meat. One authority observed, Even if lettuce is in a crisper, eventually the chicken is going to bleed onto the lettuce.

While the claim is made that, to date, no food-borne illnesses have been traced directly to retail packaged salads, everyone involved agrees that the consumer should thoroughly wash each one before ingesting. Records show that the number of produce-related outbreaks of illness have steadily increased over the last few years, and, particularly, outbreaks of shigelia, the bacteria that causes dysentery, have been traced directly to lettuce. A lady in Los Gatos, California reportedly found a hunk of packing crate in a sandwich at a restaurant. Another supposedly found a whole grasshopper in a pre-packed lettuce mix from a store.

There are some excellent practices adopted by producers. Employees can be found wearing hairnets, helmets, white coats and gloves. Some are required to walk through a foot bath to their work places. Temperatures are usually kept at 34 to 36 degrees. All these precautions are good. However, I don�t care if the eatables have been kept under an ultraviolet light during its entire existence. I don�t intend to eat it unless it has been washed just before serving.

BON APPETITE!