Recently, some romaine lettuce sold to food-service establishments was recalled due to e-coli.
Do you recall the first time you heard of someone dying from e-coli? I do. I remember reading an article about a young child dying from eating a hamburger (contaminated with e-coli) at a fast food restaurant. Obviously, e-coli can make you ill (or worse).
Speaking of feeling ill, a couple days ago, I shopped for groceries at our supermarket nearby (a grocery store that is generally known for having good quality produce). I was shocked at the amount of rotting produce, from onions to zucchini (I actually did feel ill seeing the flies surrounding some produce, and seeing some rotting onions). The romaine looked quite wimpy and rusty.
Triple Washed Lettuce– Buy it?
There was some already ‘triple washed’ and cleaned romaine and other lettuce in a bag. However, I don’t care for the taste of triple washed lettuce in a bag. There’s a chemical taste to it. I ended up leaving the grocery store sans onions, lettuce, and zucchini.
Vigilance Needed
The FDA’s recall of that romaine lettuce served to remind me that we, as food shoppers, need to be vigilant. Inspect the food you’re buying and satisfy yourself that it is fresh (not rotting), assure yourself, for instance, that the lettuce is crisp and new. If the produce at the store doesn’t look good, speak to the manager about it.
Picking Produce
It will be another 2 weeks before I can harvest zucchini from my victory garden, and several beyond that before I can pick my own tomatoes, jalapenos, and cucumbers. Until then, I hope to avoid rotting produce in my neighborhood grocery store.
I’m wondering if people are buying less fresh produce than they used to because of economic concerns. The U.S. government reports 2.2% inflation for the year thus far, and add to that the fact that the government calculates inflation by not counting ‘volatile’ food and energy prices. How quaint.
Have you had any trouble with fresh produce at your supermarket?
Photo by 4028mdk09 courtesy of Wikimedia
Yes! I’ve noticed that too! Also, while I do sometimes buy the packaged salads, their quality has gone way down. I always use before the date and immediately put the package in the fridge, but it still turns brown. I guess I’ll have to start growing my own!
Meg,
Wow, I wonder how widespread this produce situation is….if it’s nationwide, or just in different parts of the country.
You’re right, the packaged salad quality seems to have gone down quite a bit. Once in a while, I’ll get the packaged salads. After washing it and putting it through the salad spinner, I put the lettuce in a ziploc bag, seal it, and put it in my produce drawer. It seems to keep more fresh in a sealed bag.
Great idea, growing your own lettuce! Let me know how it goes!
I also have noticed the decline in the quality and care of produce in the grocery stores in my area (WA). I will not buy from Walmart as it is never very fresh or of quality. Our Fred Meyers produce is better but they soak theirs with that darn sprinkler system so bad I have to dry and drain everything before I put it in my cart (do they hope to charge me for water weight, thinking I won’t notice). Safeway’s looks wilted and high priced. I can’t stand the flavor of the bagged and washed stuff, it does have a chemical taste. I too am waiting for our garden to come in. Until then I am very very picky about the produce I store buy.
Andrea,
We’re two peas in a pod, LOL! Well, being picky about food we buy for our family is a good thing, I think. Can’t wait for our garden to come in…hope yours starts producing soon!
While it’s good to know that this wimpy produce trend in grocery stores seems to be countrywide, I’m sad that it’s the case. I will say we got great strawberries at Wal-Mart a couple weeks ago; it’s the peak of the season for them here. Other than that, I totally agree with you. That is hilarious about the sprinkler system–I bet they do hope to charge a little more for the extra wet produce. Don’t they do the same thing with water in chicken etc.?
Alright–someone else who can’t stand the taste of bagged salad that has the chemical taste!