<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
I think the following article has sufficient factual
information that people can make an informed decision
about the lettuce they eat. Our diet is restricted enough,
so if the potential benefits of eating a certain food
outweigh the consequences - I eat it (my own opinion).
On the other hand, some people are sensitive to chlorine -
for them I wouldn't advise eating chlorinated (even
'lightly chlorinated' produce).
Dangers lurking in lettuce: To chlorinate or not to
chlorinate
Printed June 12, 2004 in National Post -- A leading source
of Canadian and world news
Chlorine is simply the most effective method of washing
and preserving lettuce. Chlorine kills off the
micro-organisms that lead to spoiling as well as human
pathogens like e-coli, listeria, shigella and salmonella.
According to the CFIA, outbreaks of food-borne illnesses
have increased in recent years. Between 1990 and 2001, the
United States recorded 148 outbreaks with 9,413 cases of
food poisoning associated with fresh produce.
Professor Douglas Powell of the Food Safety Network at
Guelph University (Canada) says the possibilities for
contamination of fruits and vegetables are almost endless.
We don't know whether the water used for rinsing is clean.
Whether workers who collect the produce follow strict
hygiene practices such as thorough handwashing. Or whether
the vehicles used to transport fresh produce are also used
to transport live animals that could be sources of
microbial contamination.
The food industry -- which sells upward of $1-billion in
ready-to-eat salad -- is well aware that contaminated
lettuce could potentially kill their customers, which is
why they use chlorine washes.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), whose job it
is to guard Canada's food supply, recommends
concentrations for chlorinated wash water for lettuce to
be between 100 and 150 parts per million (ppm) chlorine.
To put that into context, the average swimming pool has
two ppm of chlorine.
The problem is chlorine washes leave residues on lettuce.
This, in turn, is a concern to some consumers because
by-products of chlorine have been found to be toxic. They
accumulate in the body and have been linked to cancer,
birth defects and reproductive disorders. In 1999, it
became illegal to wash organic lettuce heads with chlorine
in Britain. In the United States, organic producers are
allowed to use a light chlorine wash but should ensure
that any residues left do not exceed the amount of
chlorine found in normal drinking water.
Steven Karr, owner of Pride Pak Canada, a ready cut
vegetable producer in Ontario, was quoted as saying, "Once
you dry the product in a centrifuge dryer, there are no
traceable chemicals left." Professor Alfred Bushway, who
has done extensive research on chlorine rinses of fresh
fruits and vegetable at the University of Maine, was cited
as saying that although research has shown chlorine can be
converted into compounds that are carcinogenic, "the
levels being used by vegetable producers are considered by
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to be safe." The
FDA's regulations are very relevant to Canada's retail
market because most of Canada's ready-to-eat salad comes
from producers in California.
Professor Mary Ellen Camire of the University of Maine's
Food Science Department was cited as saying that because
pre-washed salad producers cannot afford the damage
associated with any reports of contamination, the
companies are very good at self-policing, and that she
herself is an avid user of pre-packed lettuce but she does
rinse the leaves with tap water at home before eating
them, adding, "I prefer to choose my poison -- the risk of
food-borne micro-organisms is greater than the risk of
developing cancer long term."
{these are just relevant excerpts. to read the entire
article go to
http://foodhaccp.com/msgboard.mv?parm_func=showmsg+parm_msgnum=1016373)}
Megan Tichy, Ph.D. Chemist
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