Consumer Reports finds Listeria in fresh greens
A new Consumer Reports test of 284 samples of fresh greens—such as lettuce, spinach, and kale—found six samples tainted with Listeria monocytogenes.
A new Consumer Reports test of 284 samples of fresh greens—such as lettuce, spinach, and kale—found six samples tainted with Listeria monocytogenes. Two of these samples were packaged, prewashed greens—a spinach and an organic spinach-spring mix. The other four were loose heads or bunches of green kale, green leaf lettuce, red leaf lettuce, and spinach. The samples were purchased between June 3 and June 19 at several U.S. grocery store chains including Acme, Costco, Hannaford, and Whole Foods.
The magazine decided to test leafy greens for harmful bacteria because of several outbreaks linked to romaine lettuce and other leafy greens over the past few years. While the results found Listeria, it did not reveal other bacteria that cause foodborne illness, such as Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7 in any of the 284 samples tested.
Of the six samples tainted with Listeria monocytogenes, one had a strain genetically linked to at least two cases of listeriosis (the illness caused by listeria) reported to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That product was a “triple-washed” Nature’s Place Organic Spinach Spring Mix purchased at a Hannaford supermarket.
The other products with Listeria were purchased at:
- Acme—unbranded, unbagged red leaf lettuce
- Costco—bagged spinach from Boskovich Farms (marked “triple washed”)
- Hannaford—unbranded, unbagged spinach
- Whole Foods—unbagged green kale from Lancaster Farm and unbranded, unbagged green leaf lettuce.
In response to Consumer Reports’ findings, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) initiated an inspection of the plant that produced Nature’s Place Organic Spinach Spring Mix.
Listeria is usually associated with deli meats, hot dogs, soft cheeses, and sprouts. However, in recent years other types of foods have been linked to outbreaks of Listeria, including leafy greens. Produce accounted for 30–60 foodborne illness outbreaks a year between 1998 and 2016, according to a recent analysis of CDC data published in Congressional Research Service. Leafy greens were responsible for 20%–40% of those outbreaks.
In response to the study, Hilary Thesmar, senior vice president of food safety programs at the Food Marketing Institute, released the following statement: “Food retailers take these survey results very seriously and it is not their intention to contribute to a breakdown of trust they work so hard to foster among their shoppers. While there is currently no government safety advisory, the incidents outlined in Consumer Reports of finding listeria in bulk lettuce reminds us that the entire supply chain has a responsibility for safe food handling. Consumers can take small steps at home to help prevent bacterial contamination by washing the leafy greens that they find in bulk bins or loose in the store’s produce department. However, Listeria should not be present in a bagged salad that’s labeled ‘ready-to-eat,’ ‘washed,’ or ‘triple washed.’ These products have gone through the necessary steps to mitigate harmful bacteria. Shoppers should be advised not to wash bagged lettuce that is labeled ‘ready-to-eat,’ ‘washed,’ or ‘triple washed’ because of risk of cross contamination from hands, sinks, colanders, pans, and utensils that may be used during washing. Public health professionals suggest that these actions may outweigh any safety benefit for prewashed, ready-to-eat salads.”