Chlorinated salad anyone? 🥗

Hi everyone,

There's been a lot recently about chlorinated chicken from the US as it is banned in the EU. It is banned because of fears that chlorinated chicken would not be handled as carefully as it is now.

But did you know we've been buying chlorinated salad fruits and veg for many years and the supermarkets retort is 'the customer wants a disinfected product' I am ever so glad that they told me this LOL. As I prefer a little cider vinegar and mayo on my salad...But each to their own.

Bought mixed salads are washed in 19x more chlorine than is in a swimming pool, this washing process washes many of the nutrients out of the salad leaves, this would happen with washing at home any way And these bags of mixed salad are also packed in a special atmosphere that slows ageing so they stay fresher looking for longer.

healthyfood.com/ask-the-exp...

I love mixed bags of salad and always wash thoroughly in a sieve under the tap but I also buy little gem lettuce as I worry about the washing process having greatly reduced their nutritional content.

I love salads especially this hot weather so its nice to know I'm getting a disinfected product thats been hermetically sealed...🤔

Knowledge of what we are really eating is empowering...

[Zest]

Hi Hidden

Thanks for this post, and I am going to be mindful of the ingredients I put in my salads, and hope to create something as lovely looking as the one you have in your photograph - and I also like your salad dressing of apple cider vinegar and mayo. I also enjoy a little olive oil dressing too.

Zest

[Caz28]

Wow, didn’t know that ☹️ I usually buy little gem, iceberg and growing leaves, don’t usually get mixed bags...the ones that have carrot or beetroot batons usually taste earthy and not very nice anyway so much nicer to do your own like you have in yours x

[Hidden]

HI Hidden

Thank you for sharing the article. Most of the time I buy organic i.e. beetroot, tomatoes and cucumber but the one item of salad I don't actually like is lettuce. My mum used to grow Cos lettuces years ago and they were very crispy and had a natural sweetness to them but I find the lettuces in supermarkets are tasteless most of the time.

Fortunately it's very rare for me to buy bagged salad but love you funny comment about preferring cider vinegar and mayo.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Hey Alicia next time you have a salad put a bottle of Dettol on the table and tell everyone its the latest salad dressing craze...😂

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Ha Ha, you really did make me smile Jerry 🤣🤣

[Fran182716 Prediabetic in reply to Hidden]

You might like a lettuce I’ve found In Sainsbury’s this year, it’s called dulce romana and the one I have in the fridge was grown in Shropshire, I also find most supermarket lettuces tasteless and normally buy baby spinach instead, but this has a bit more flavour and a good crunch. It’s in a bag but not washed-ready-to-eat so I’m hoping not too much chlorine!

[Hidden in reply to Fran182716]

Thank you for that Fran182716 , I'll look for that one as I've been wanting a decent salad.

Just because it's in a bag doesn't necessarily mean it's washed. I'll write the name down so I dont forget it.

[Cooper27 Administrator]

I was just watching an episode of dispatches, where they went undercover in a US chlorinated chicken plant, and they also mentioned the salad thing too.

I wasn't aware how heavily chlorinated salad was, although I knew it had to be packaged with nitrogen or something to prolong their shelf life. It's not great.

I wonder if 'living salads' are any better?

It's one other plus for our hydroponic system, as we were able to grow our own salad leaves for a while - it produced about 1 plate a week from 3 plants.

[Hidden in reply to Cooper27]

Hi Cooper, an interesting point about living salads as I've never bought any.

I think it's great growing some plants hydroponically indoors yourself so good for you, I bet the lettuce tastes good too...😊

[Cooper27 Administrator in reply to Hidden]

It's a good option if you just don't have any other way to grow things

I've just remembered, but if I placed one of the living salad plants next to the hydroponic system, it would also help it to grow more and live longer.

[mimi2212]

I wonder if you are out of your mind? Chlorine washed anything puts every person in this country in harms way! Forget the massive number of Americans diagnosed with assorted Thyroid illnesses...there are those still walking around undiagnosed. The thyroid gland recognizes chlorine as IODINE...needed for the thyroid to function normally. Now imagine every salad & piece of fruit being washed in chloride and the effect on the Thyroid Gland of the masses!!!

[Matt2584 in reply to mimi2212]

I don’t think Jerry is out of his mind for posting this article about disinfecting produce.

I expect he has posted it to see what others may say about it and for some is informing others.

So if the Thyroid recognise chlorine as iodine... needed for the Thyroid to function properly. What does chlorine do to the Thyroid? Make it work improperly I guess.

So what about the people who swim each day in indoor swimming pools they are bathing in chlorine. Does this mean there Thyroids are not functioning properly?

You would only get small amounts of chlorine (I would think) if your produce was rinsed in the stuff but if you were to go swimming for 30mins your body would be taking in lots.

[Hidden in reply to Matt2584]

Hey thanks Matt, people have said worse...😁

[mimi2212 in reply to Matt2584]

Are you aware of the exponential number of Americans that have thyroid symptoms? The number is rising everyday. The thyroid sees chlorine as the iodine...needed to function...preventing illnesses. So simple to inform people to wash what goes in their mouth...in clean non-chlorinated/non-fluorinated water...giving them the reason why. In less than 10 years the majority of Americans will have some form of chronic illness. Our chemical filled processed foods are not permitted in Europe...but they fill the isles of our grocery stores. Bon appetite...

[Hidden in reply to mimi2212]

Hi mimi2212 unfortunately tap water is chlorinated so we drink it wash our selves our clothes and our food in it...

[Matt2584 in reply to Hidden]

Exactly my point as well.

Everyday, people are exposed to chlorine.

As far as I know I have a fully functioning Thyroid.

Well I am only speculating because I don’t visit doctors, I don’t trust them no more.

[Matt2584]

“The customer wants a disinfected product”.

Well no, I and I expect many other customers, would love to have fresh produce without it being bathed in disinfectants first.

They say the customer wants a disinfected product cos they most likely have no clue that the product has been disinfected.

They buy it as it is, not knowing what has been done to it, so the supermarkets will assume that is what we want and they’ll keep on doing it.

If we all knew that the produce had things done to it that killed off most of the nutrients I don’t think many people would be all too happy really.

At the end of the day... Why?.... why is the majority of our foods tainted with harmful ingredients?

I know the article says about disinfecting and filling the bags with gas to keep the produce for longer but what if the people don’t want that?

It would likely mean you would have to make 2 trips to ASDA per week :).

Or how about they stop making people work so hard that they have more time in the day to grow their own food.

[Cooper27 Administrator in reply to Matt2584]

I dunno, it sometimes catches me out, the hang-ups people can have about food. E.g. I use veg after it's "best before" date quite a lot, but many others wouldn't. I don't mind dirty carrots/potatoes, but others think it's lazy of the supermarket not to clean them first. There's even families out there who will wash all their fresh food in diluted bleach before feeding it to their families, so it doesn't surprise me to hear people expec food to be disinfected.

[Hidden in reply to Cooper27]

Hi Cooper, I agree about sell by dates and vegetables are grown in soil having soil left on them are good.

What the supermarkets mean when they say the customer wants a disaffected product what they are really saying is the customer doesn't want salmonella because the salad has been handled/prepared, so the chlorine is to kill any bacteria in the and increase shelf life.

[Matt2584 in reply to Cooper27]

I sometimes use veg after the ‘best before” date as well. The ‘best before’ can make people think that the product must be used before the date expires but that isn’t the case.

The “use by” date is the one where you should use the item before the date.

If say the BB date was 1st of aug, the item would taste at it’s best before that date. After that it might start to not taste as great.

I’m not too bothered about dirty veg either. Well if you grow it yourself it is going to be way dirtier :).

Others might think it is lazy of the supermarket not to clean them but really it could be that the customer is the lazy one by expecting the supermarket or supplier to do it first.

[Hidden in reply to Matt2584]

The trouble with washed fruit and veg is some of the nutrients have been washed away before we get our hands on them.

[Kitten-whiskers Administrator Vegan star]

This is a great post Jerry, I was aware of them chlorinated salad bags, thats why I switched over to gem lettices but only found about about a year ago, it really makes you think................... what are we actually eating 🤢 even the "good stuff" is bad

[Hidden in reply to Kitten-whiskers]

Thanks Debs, unfortunately nothing is sacred when it comes to looks and extended shelf life of fresh fruit and veg...🤔

[Kitten-whiskers Administrator Vegan star in reply to Hidden]

Maybe frozen Fruit and Veg is better for you afterall