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Name: Salad.
Age: Legend has it that in the Byzantine period, the Greek island of Kos was a centre for growing a long-leafed variety of lettuce that your grandparents might know as cos, though that variety is now more commonly referred to as romaine.
I remember it from the Brexit campaign – the leaves v the romaines. Don’t forget Liz Truss and her iceberg lettuce.
I was trying to. Just as I’m now trying to be healthier by eating more salad. Unless it kills you.
EXCUSE ME?! On 4 August, there had been 10,468 laboratory-confirmed cases of the parasitic illness cyclosporiasis in the US since May and more than 12,255 additional cases requiring further investigation. There had also been two deaths.
What are the symptoms? Vomiting, watery diarrhoea, “with frequent and sometimes explosive bowel movements”, says the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Haven’t I heard it referred to as Trump diarrhoea? It has been – by late-night host Ike Barinholtz, criticising the response to the outbreak, though the president can’t be held directly responsible for this one.
Who or what can? The US Food and Drug Administration has identified one culprit: iceberg lettuce imported from Mexico.
What about the rest of the world? Cyclosporiasis isn’t endemic in Europe, at least, although there has been a rise in cases among travellers returning to the UK from the US and Mexico. However, the UK Health Security Agency saw a sharp rise in cases of shiga toxin-producing E coli last year.
Symptoms? Vomiting, diarrhoea, stomach cramps and fever.
There’s going to be a salad connection, isn’t there? The largest outbreak, in 2024, which affected more than 250 people, 86 of whom were admitted to hospital, was thought to be caused by prepacked sandwiches containing … contaminated lettuce.
I wonder what a microbiologist would say about it? Dr Primrose Freestone, an associate professor of clinical microbiology at the University of Leicester, told the Times that she “wouldn’t touch a bagged salad in a million years”.
Because? The natural microflora on raw leaves can become infected by flies and wasps, which can carry pathogenic bacteria, including E coli and Salmonella.
Why is lettuce more dangerous when it’s bagged? It turns out that the moist environment of the bag provides a great breeding ground for bacteria and pathogens. Freestone’s research found that pathogens grow more than 1,000 times better in a salad bag.
Boiling would kill bacteria, wouldn’t it? True, but it would also render your salad inedible. Freestone recommends washing everything well, and if you must get bagged leaves, refrigerating them, then eating them promptly. “Salad, lettuce and side salad infections can kill,” she warns.
Side salads? In restaurants, you don’t know how long they have been sitting around.
Do say: “Just with chips please.”
Don’t say: “And let’s not forget the Titanic was sunk by an iceberg.”
