The Safest Spinach Bagged salads have become big business. The convenience of pre-cut, pre-washed greens is almost irresistible. But it comes with a risk - contamination. See, that very convenient bag of greens (usually lettuce or spinach) isn't lovingly hand-cut and hand-washed by a farmer and his family. Rather, a huge amount of greens is run through a giant cutting machine. Then the pieces are group-washed in swimming pool-sized vats. Finally, bunches are grabbed and packed into plastic bags, then sealed and sent to market. We take it for granted that the machines are clean and that the wash water is free of contaminants. But September's E. coli-spinach scare tell us that may not be true. In fact, sealing wet salad leaves in plastic bags is like an eighth-grade biology experiment - you can just sit back and watch the bacteria breed. And if a potentially deadly strain like E. coli happens to be the bacteria in question, people are going to get sick. To ward off doubts about this lucrative product, authorities have suggested the blame be pinned on the wild boars who roam in the spinach fields. Turns out these animals wandered from a cattle pasture (less than a mile away) where they picked up the bug into the spinach fields. Authorities claim that having cattle operations right next to ready-to-eat produce fields have been a concern for quite some time. In light of this E. coli outbreak - which killed 3 people and made more than 200 others ill - the FDA plans to work with the industry to encourage them to develop better contamination prevention practices. Back at the grocery store, spinach is back on the shelves nationwide. The FDA assures us that fresh spinach is safe to eat again...and the pre-bagged varieties are once again flying off the shelves. Are we in store for another round of bacterial contamination? No one knows. But we do know a better way to keep you from getting stricken with the debilitating bug: Buy unprocessed produce and prepare it at home. Even better, get your produce from local farmers whenever possible. It's less convenient, but not less convenient than spending five to seven days in the bathroom - or, worse, two to three weeks in the hospital getting IV fluids - because of a nasty bacterial infection. | 
