Still leery about buying bagged salads? Don't be, experts say

In a world filled with bleak news about the sorry state of our nutrition, here's a bright note: We're eating more leafy salads than ever before. Thanks to pre-washed, ready-to-eat bagged greens, adding a salad to dinner is as easy as pouring a bowl of cereal.

The fresh-cut lettuce business has more than quadrupled in the past decade; in some years, sales increased by more than 20 percent. And we're choosing healthier greens: more romaine and leaf lettuces, which are higher in vitamins and minerals than nutritionally weak iceberg.

But sales took a dive last year after deadly E. coli outbreaks were linked to pre-washed greens. Even six weeks after the FDA recall of bagged spinach had ended, nearly half of consumers were still afraid to buy it, according to the Rutgers University Food Policy Institute. Shortly after the spinach situation, another E. coli outbreak was linked to shredded iceberg lettuce. Although these outbreaks scared many of us, the truth is that these incidents are few and far between.

That doesn't mean that bagged greens aren't without their issues. Ounce for ounce, pre-washed lettuce is nearly twice as expensive as unwashed greens. Also, packaged greens do spoil faster than whole ones, which means farmers have to work very efficiently and use constantly evolving technologies. Manufacturers race to get the product harvested, cleansed, dried, bagged and trucked so it can sit in your supermarket and home fridge without spoiling.

Much of our lettuce is grown in Arizona or California and then sent to processing plants, where it's washed with cold chlorinated water or acetic acid, dried, and packed into "modified atmosphere" bags or tubs. These containers are key: The plastic film decreases the amount of decay-causing oxygen that reaches the greens. Some of the bags are puffed with a gas such as nitrogen to form a protective pillow around the leaves.

If the bag you brought home contains bruised or decayed greens, toss it, says Donald Schaffner, a professor of food science at Rutgers University. Damaged leaves are fertile ground for bacterial growth. If there's no browning, refrigerate the greens immediately to prolong their life.

Once you've opened the bag, it can still store leftover lettuce. Just close it with a clip. Many greens are packed in a film that allows the right balance of oxygen in and out of the bag, keeping the contents fresher longer.

Despite your good intentions, rinsing bagged greens before using them is a bad idea. According to Schaffner, rewashing even "ready to eat" or "triple washed" salads at home actually increases the risk of cross-contamination.

Your kitchen, no matter how often Mr. Clean visits, is a hotbed of bacterial activity -- much more so than the factory in which the greens were washed. In the factory, a limited number of foods are handled in a controlled environment. Chances are your home kitchen contains more opportunities for cross-contamination, such as raw chicken or a child's runny nose, making it more likely that bugs will end up in otherwise clean food.

Go green, or red

Salad mixes offer an appealing array of colors, textures and nutrients. Look for bags with these healthful choices:

Arugula

This peppery leaf is packed with heart-healthy folate; it also contains calcium.

Try: Earthbound Farms Mixed Baby Greens

Spinach

Popeye's pick is filled with iron; it's also a great source of lutein and zeaxanthin.

Try: Earthbound Farms Savory Spinach Salad

Red leaf

Brighten your salad with this mild leaf that's packed with bone-building vitamin K.

Try: Dole Butter and Red Leaf

Curly endive

This textured leaf is a boon to your vision with eye-protecting beta-carotene.

Try: Dole Field Greens

Romaine

Just three leaves can provide almost 100 percent of your daily vitamin A, important for skin and immunity.

Try: Dole European

-- Prevention