Why Restaurant Workers Often Avoid Salads, According To Reddit

Think about the best restaurant salad you've ever had. What words would you use to describe it? Maybe crispy, refreshing, light, vegetal, seasonal, flavorful, disgusting. Even if that final adjective doesn't seem to fit in with the rest, restaurant workers might still say it's appropriate. That's because, according to food industry folks on Reddit, restaurants don't wash the produce for their salads, leading some of these people to avoid this dish in restaurant entirely.

Otherwise-clean establishments might still neglect to bring their salad vegetables to the same standard. "I've worked in a handful of restaurants and none washed their produce," wrote one Reddit user. "The last one had an almost perfect health inspection every time ... But bar fruit and other produce didn't get washed. I don't normally eat restaurant salads." Lettuce and other salad vegetables can harbor germs and bacteria, so this might just be one of those items restaurant staff say to avoid.

Of course, food safety guidelines typically require that salad vegetables be washed, though the exact standards vary based on the state and local health codes. Another Reddit user described just how the process is supposed to go: "Leafy greens get broken down into a sink full of cold water, sediment drifts to the bottom, the product pulled from the top, into a spinner to dry." Restaurants might use vinegar or a designated vegetable-wash solution when cleaning leafy greens. So, if the restaurant where you're eating has high standards, salads can still be one of the best appetizers (or entrees) on the menu.

If you're worried about the potential dangers of ordering salad at a restaurant, don't worry. Many restaurants don't source their salad greens whole — for instance, a full head of lettuce or a bunch of kale — but instead purchase bagged greens, some of which are sold with the designation "ready to eat." These have already been washed and packaged clean, and their production facilities are inspected to ensure cleanliness. For these ready-to-eat vegetables, washing them again in the restaurant won't actually make them cleaner.

It doesn't matter whether the vegetation is washed in a processing plant or on-site in the restaurant, just as long as it's washed before reaching the plate. Bacteria like E. coli and listeria have prompted recalls for contaminated leafy greens, and while washing produce with water won't kill or remove all of those bacteria, some commercial facilities use a vegetable-wash solution that does the job.

Even if the bath is in a restaurant kitchen, it's still helpful. "Thoroughly rinsing fresh produce under running water is an effective way to reduce the number of microorganisms," explains a produce-washing fact sheet from Colorado State University Extension. But there's more to it than just that: Many leafy salad greens are home to other, more familiar contaminants like bugs and dirt. "Washing fruits and vegetables not only helps remove dirt, bacteria, and stubborn garden pests, but it also helps remove residual pesticides," the fact sheet reads.