Prof. Lawrence Goodridge, Department of Food Science, spoke to Canadian Press for an article about why bagged salad mixes are so often implicated in food recalls.

The article appeared on CTVNews.ca, the Winnipeg Free Press and elsewhere.

The article mentioned a review co-written by Goodridge that examined all food recalls in Canada between 2000 and 2017. That review found that while meats and cheese accounted for most of the recalls, leafy greens were also a commonly recalled item.

Goodridge said “the more a product is manipulated, the higher the chances of contamination.” He said while salad greens used in bagged mixes typically get multiple washes in a chlorinated bath, those rinses don’t completely eliminate E. coli or salmonella.

Goodridge holds the Leung Family Professorship in Food Safety  and pursues interdisciplinary research on food-borne pathogens at U of G’s Canadian Research Institute for Food Safety.