Author Topic: Bagged Salads  (Read 7245 times)

Jeannine

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Bagged Salads
« on: April 25, 2016, 23:42:38 »
My daughter eats tons of this stuff and it scares me to death,what are your views
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Crystalmoon

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Re: Bagged Salads
« Reply #1 on: April 26, 2016, 06:13:32 »
Hi Jeannine, I have Immune System Diseases & when I was first diagnosed I looked into everything I was eating & also using in the home....indeed it was what I learnt about food that made me apply for an allotment!  I read several books & did a lot of research & bagged salads can be some of the worst things to have ever....the workers who pick the salad are often treated little better than slaves & live in filthy conditions often with no running water or toilets (just tents by fields). The bagged salads are treated with chlorine to kill things like E Coli. I remember reading somewhere that the concentration of the chlorine was far stronger than that used in public swimming pools. I am of course mentioning the worst scenarios here.....but it was information like this that made me only buy organic food & eventually encouraged me to grow as much of my own food as possible. My immune system is far less reactive now I am very careful about what chemicals my body has to put up with.
If your daughter is fit & healthy she may well be able to eat bagged salads with no noticeable ill effects but it would be much better for her if she made sure the bags were of organic salads. xxxxJane   

penedesenca

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Re: Bagged Salads
« Reply #2 on: April 26, 2016, 06:26:36 »
I am not a fan of them. There was an issue some years ago where they were a breeding ground for germs due to the warm damp bag environment. Also they are washed with chemicals, then the air in the bag is modified. Topped off with they are expensive for what they are.  Deffo not for me

galina

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Re: Bagged Salads
« Reply #3 on: April 26, 2016, 06:51:04 »
Salading is the easiest stuff to grow over winter in a greenhouse or under a cloche.  There isn't much happening during January and February, but the other months there could be quite a lot to harvest.  In autumn when the tomatoes are still in the greenhouse, I just broadcast salad seeds between them and behind them, which will come up when they want to.  I take a bit more care with broad leaf endive lettuces, which sow in August outside, cloche, then transplant some to the greenhouse.  Still have some going now. 

My celery seems to have adapted to grow through winters outside now, ditto rocket and land cress, no protection.  Sprouted salad stuff from the windowsill too, bean sprouts and little boxes of cress (these don't have to be bought).  Most of the time during winter small chard leaves can be harvested and sliced up (chard and beetroot leaves are often in salad packs).  We really can do our own quite easily.   :wave: 

Beersmith

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Re: Bagged Salads
« Reply #4 on: April 26, 2016, 22:36:00 »
Isn't there an upside to this?

A bag of salad is way way more healthy as part of any diet than, say, a bag of crisps, or a bag of sweets, or a bar of chocolate. I'd suggest buying as fresh as possible, rinsing again at home before eating and concentrate on the plus side to eating vegetables rather than confectionery.

Cheers

Beersmith
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Jeannine

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Re: Bagged Salads
« Reply #5 on: April 27, 2016, 08:37:06 »
My daughter does not eat confectionary or potato chips etc but she eats a lot of this salad and there have many recalls over here about it
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ancellsfarmer

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Re: Bagged Salads
« Reply #6 on: April 27, 2016, 19:59:05 »
Unless your daughter shows ill effects, stop worrying. Worrying does more harm than most physical conditions
There are many sources of possible infections of this type wherever the "generally dirty public" are.
Also potential problems from nitrate content of the really dark green leaf such as spinach(sometimes seen to be darker than holly!)
Why not grow something better yourselves, you may need to equip with shelter, grow llights, auto ventilation but it can be done. You would need to be prepared by July to get ready for sowing, a sucession of leaf according to preference. I discovered the following website/blog which may inspire you too!
http://www.nickykylegardening.com
« Last Edit: April 27, 2016, 20:13:48 by ancellsfarmer »
Freelance cultivator qualified within the University of Life.

Jeannine

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Re: Bagged Salads
« Reply #7 on: April 27, 2016, 21:48:39 »
I do grow it all the year round, I grow salad greens, micro greens, kale etc  all through the winter and summer I eat my own grown salads but she likes the bagged stuff because it has dreed cranberries in it and she says they are different to the dry cranberries we buy.. I eat salad greens every day, all homegrown, she wants the bagged stuff. I wouldn't put in near my face!!
When God blesses you with a multitude of seeds double  the blessing by sharing your  seeds with other folks.

Duke Ellington

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Re: Bagged Salads
« Reply #8 on: April 28, 2016, 12:50:46 »
I stay away from it. I always think it's smells peculiar even when fresh. I have on the odd occasion bought bagged rocket leaves when we have guests for dinner and want something to look a bit posh :tongue3: they pump the bag with some kind of gas too which worries me slightly. I love salads and eat it all year. I have recently bought a book can't remember the title but it explains how to grow lettuce all year. I plan to put it to the test this year.

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johhnyco15

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Re: Bagged Salads
« Reply #9 on: April 28, 2016, 16:23:02 »
me i would'nt worry wash it eat it if your that worried wash it again but really im sure she will be fine
johhnyc015  may the plot be with you

Jeannine

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Re: Bagged Salads
« Reply #10 on: April 28, 2016, 17:13:50 »
Duke   get a container , a washing up bowl with drain holes is about right.  fill it about 6 inches deep, than scatter mixed lettuce fairly heavy over the surface, oversow for sure, then very lightly cover, put in a light but not hoy place, don't thin. You can start eating them as soon as you like roots and all as microgreens, or leave them to grow on a  bit to baby leaf size, , then scissor off what you want, they will often regrow. Use a couple of bowls and grow a second one about 3 weeks after the first, if you use a third you can keep yourself in salad greens all winter, You can do the same with kale and use it in the salad. I do keep these two separate as they grow at different speeds but with the lettuce you make a colorful blend, add Rocket, Arugula,  whatever you like to the mix. All my ols salad seeds get tossed in a jar, some sprout some don't and I am never sure what will come up. Then periodically I start another jar, Actually I start two, one with a variation og green lettuces flat, cos, crinkly, oakleaf etc, and another with reds and spotted ones in  again flat crinkly etc. If you have old brassica seeds, chuck them in a shallow tray about 1 1/2 inches of soil, when they are uo with say just the first true set of leaves, scissor them off and use then like you would alfafa sprouts, beets and chard are good like this too. I even sprout peas, when the greenery is about 3 inches tall I chuck it for the last couple of minutes into a stirfry or toss them in salads.

You can do it on a sunny windowsill in the winter, it doesn't matter if they stretch a bit, I do it in a cool greenhouse but my glass is double insulated so it never freezes in there, or I d it under my light system along with micro tomatoes that grow less than a foot high.

When God blesses you with a multitude of seeds double  the blessing by sharing your  seeds with other folks.

rollingrock

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Re: Bagged Salads
« Reply #11 on: April 28, 2016, 20:53:54 »
if so worried about bagged salad take sample and get tested for nasties. While your at it send sample you own home grown salad greens. might interesting to see which are lower in bacteria  and other nasties yours and the market stuff.

Jeannine

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Re: Bagged Salads
« Reply #12 on: April 28, 2016, 21:16:38 »
With respect I think that is just plain silly, the bags are tested all the time which is why my post mentions the recalls, it is the result of the testing that worries me especially as it is processed in a factory and has a bagged shelf life of 2 weeks plus the harvesting and processing time and it is shipped  from another country.

How is that comparable to one home grown totally organically  in sterile soil in a private greenhouse and is picked and washed half an hour before it is eaten.
When God blesses you with a multitude of seeds double  the blessing by sharing your  seeds with other folks.

rollingrock

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Re: Bagged Salads
« Reply #13 on: April 29, 2016, 09:37:05 »
unless less you test them both there is no real way to tell  which has lower bacteria counts!

galina

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Re: Bagged Salads
« Reply #14 on: April 29, 2016, 13:09:15 »
unless less you test them both there is no real way to tell  which has lower bacteria counts!

There are often plain leaves in lettuce packs. 

sparrow

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Re: Bagged Salads
« Reply #15 on: April 29, 2016, 15:04:32 »
For work I went to a farm factory growing and bagging salads for a major supermarket here.

It had scrupulous cleanliness procedures, but what really put me off was the stench of bleach the minute we went in. Over here at that time (10 years ago) the leaves were washed in a mild bleach solution before being bagged. The problem being that if the bleach solution isn't right, the leaves are sealed in the bag with nasties which have a great environment to breed in. There aren't many recalls of leaves here that I can remember, but it's the bleach smell that really put me off.

Since then I've tried not to buy bagged leaves.

Jeannine

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Re: Bagged Salads
« Reply #16 on: April 29, 2016, 21:48:18 »
Rollong rock if you were right I would agree with you, last comment on this particular point.
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