Food Safety News – July 2010
Do the Germans know best when it comes to salad washing?
As well as the love of bratwurst Germans are known for their fermented vegetables like sauerkraut, but are they known for liking salad?
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In Germany as well as Holland and Denmark, it is illegal to use chlorine for the washing of fruit or vegetables unlike the UK and USA and countries such as France and Spain. In these countries and most of Europe, chlorine washing is commonly used for pre-packed salads and fruits to reduce the levels |
of pathogenic bacteria and also to enhance shelf-life. Critics argue that this is only cleaning the water not the food and that high levels of a dangerous chemical are left instead of bacteria. Whilst tap water usually contains 5 parts per million (ppm) of chlorine to reduce the danger of diseases such as cholera this is largely effective due to the time the chlorine is in the water. For salads levels up to 200ppm are used to minimise risks from salmonella, e coli and listeria, though 100ppm is the usual level. The broadcaster and foodie, Clarissa Dickson-Wright, compared the levels in a bag of salad with those of a swimming pool for a day. The UK Salad Producers group however said a 150g bag of prepared salad had similar levels of chlorine compounds to a 250ml glass of tap water and therefore presents no risk.The Germans are also known for being quite picky when it comes to food standards so how do they ensure their salads are fresh? For pre-packed produce they generally follow a standard of a maximum of six days shelf life at 6oC. Further there is increased focus of the use of speciality packing to enhance shelf life as well as the use of modified atmosphere packing to minimise plant respiration that is often a cause of deterioration in quality. For mayonnaise based salads some manufacturers have added probiotics to reduce yeast spoilage. Whilst the use of chlorine is banned in some countries it is also not permitted for use in organic produce. Furthermore the EU also had a ban in place on the chlorine treatment of chickens. For over ten years the ban has prevented imports of chickens treated with chlorine to reduce levels of pathogens on such poultry.It does not seem that chlorine is a big talking point in Germany when it comes to salads. The most recent salad scare in Germany was with a customer finding the leaf of a poisonous variety of ragwort in pre-packed supermarket rocket. Apparently the ragwort is very similar to rocket though it is hard to understand how such contamination occurred if the produce was commercially grown.
For more information about our alternative to chlorine for washing salads or vegetables please contact Chris Jarvis chris@hygieneauditsystems.com
