You’ll never believe what it is, folks. We were certainly surprised when we first found out.
America has had its fair share of product recalls and discontinuations over the past few years. We’re talking about baby formulas, flours, fruit blends, charcuteries, and more. While these were taken back into the basement for a reason, the biggest culprit in causing food poisoning in the United States isn’t any of them: it’s vegetables.
Okay, not all vegetables. According to a new study from Consumer Reports, leafy greens, one of the healthiest food choices in stores, caused hundreds of cases. The organization reported that these greens caused around 614 illnesses and 50 recalls. Additionally, they also caused the most deaths in the organization’s data sets, at 11.
We believe that the most likely cause of how these leafy goodies got to be the number one cause of food poisoning is E.coli and listeria contamination. The water used for irrigation and nourishment of these plants usually gets polluted with manure. Additionally, pre-packaged greens can also have salmonella or listeria thanks to being contaminated in food processing plants.
For reference, here is the full list from Consumer Reports:
1. Leafy Greens
2. Cheese and Deli Meat
3. Ground Beef
4. Onions
5. Turkey
6. Chicken
7. Papayas
8. Peaches
9. Cantaloupe
10. Flour
Image credit: Oleksandr Pidvalnyi