A Question about Restaurant Lettuce

[BakerAunt]

I went out to dinner with a group from work at a local restaurant. My entrée included a salad. I appear to have had a reaction to the salad (lettuce or dressing) early the next morning. A friend said to me that she was not surprised, since restaurants often put preservatives on lettuce. (It was iceberg.) The dressing, a lemon vinaigrette also left a very strong garlic aftertaste, although I didn't notice it while eating the salad. Now, I like garlic and use it, but this was definitely excessive.

So, has anyone heard about preservatives being used on restaurant lettuce?

Also, do restaurants perhaps use some kind of garlic extract rather than regular garlic?

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[Italiancook]

BakerAunt, I have not heard about restaurants using preservatives on lettuce, but it would not surprise me. I'll ask this question the next time I go to a restaurant, which won't be for a while.

I searched online to see if garlic extract is used by restaurants, but didn't find an answer. Apparently there is garlic extract, and there are a few references that it's healthful. But I think solid garlic is also claimed as healthful.

[S_Wirth]

About 30 years ago, I ate at a salad bar in a Bonanza steakhouse and had severe stomach issues for days after. Came to find out that nitrates and nitrites were used on lettuce, etc. to keep things fresher and it causes stomach distress in many folks. These same things are used in many deli type meats and such.

Not long ago, Dr. Oz had a segment on what all is found in many salad bar items and not just lettuce. An antifreeze additive is found in many salad bar items and beyond. Propylene glycol is one thing widely used in keeping salad items safer these days. Yuck!!! We never eat out and have not done so for longer than anyone would believe if I told it here. I don't enjoy stomach issues and there are many running loose out there whether from help that doesn't understand food safety issues or from chemicals that do not belong in our food.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 9 months ago by S_Wirth.

[Mike Nolan]

Salad bars are breeding grounds for all sort of food-borne illnesses and allergies. Too many salad bars don't keep warm foods hot enough or cold foods cold enough. Cross-contamination of foods at a salad bar is commonplace, so anyone with a gluten allergy (just to mention one) has to be very careful. I've been to far too many restaurants where the people stocking the salad bar know very little about what each item contains, many of them come straight out of a carton, jar or can. (One of our pet peeves is places that don't know that ranch dressing contains garlic.)

The reason garlic is considered 'healthy', as I wrote in my first blog post last spring, is that it slows down your digestion. That means you absorb less of the food and what you do absorb is broken down into things your body can handle better.

That's great unless, like my wife and perhaps another 2-3 % of the population, your body's reaction to garlic is to basically shut your digestive system down completely for several hours.

The FDA and USDA don't recognize garlic allergy as a food issue yet, but 30-40 years ago they didn't recognize gluten allergy issues, either, so there's still hope.

In many restaurants, they use jars of pre-minced garlic, which may contain preservatives. These days there are limitations on what preservatives can be used on salad bar items, but I suspect many restaurants make their own 'preservatives' that ignore those limitations.

[BakerAunt]

Thanks to all for your thoughts. This restaurant did not have a salad bar. My entrée came with either a salad and one side, or two sides. I thought I was making the healthy choice in choosing the salad. Next time, I will ask what lettuce is in the salad; if it is mostly iceberg, I will pass.

[S_Wirth]

It is not just a salad bar issue...they make up/prepare all the lettuce in the kitchen and it is all treated with the same chemicals. And it is not just iceberg lettuce but many types of salad greens and other veggies that get the preservatives.

[BakerAunt]

That makes sense. It likely depends on the restaurant. The more high-volume their salads, the more iffy it will likely be. I shall stick with cooked food for my dinners out.

[Mike Nolan]

I've been in the kitchen of some high volume restaurants, the lettuce comes out of the bag and is onto a plate in such a short amount of time that preservatives are not needed.

[RiversideLen]

I wonder if the bagged lettuce that restaurants get has a preservative.

I don't trust most restaurants for their raw produce and tend to avoid it. The kitchens can get pretty busy and carelessness can result.

[Mike Nolan]

As far as I know, most bagged produce does not have a preservative in it. A good restaurant will wash it and spin it dry anyway, though.

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