As the ongoing Cyclospora outbreak keeps sickening people across the United States, an infectious disease expert is urging shoppers to rethink how they handle salad greens. Lisa Cuchara says washing prewashed greens is a good idea during an active outbreak, and that buying a whole head of lettuce to wash at home is the better choice.
The advice lands now because the outbreak has already sickened more than 11,500 people in 2026, and it is still shaping what many families are willing to put in their carts. Fresh produce remains a staple for people who want to eat well, but a July 26 poll found that 40% of U.S. adults have cut down on buying and eating it after food-safety scares.
Cuchara's point is straightforward. Bagged lettuce and other vegetables are often sold as triple washed or prewashed and marketed as ready to eat, but that does not mean sterile. Cleaned to commercial standards is not the same as free of all harmful germs, and a single contaminated leaf can spread pathogens to others during processing through equipment or wash water. Each step in the chain — harvest, cutting, washing, conveyor belts and packaging — creates another chance for contamination. Bagged lettuce also often travels a considerable distance before it reaches a shopper, which gives the problem more time and more handling.
That is why the consumer advice is so narrow and so practical. During an active outbreak, washing prewashed greens adds a layer of protection, even if it cannot promise a perfect result. A whole head of lettuce washed at home gives people more control over what touches the leaves before dinner, which matters when cut leaves can release juices that help bacteria survive and multiply. The point is not that salad has to disappear from the table. It is that ready-to-eat labeling should not be treated as a guarantee.
The broader worry is what happens to confidence in fresh produce when outbreaks keep coming. People still want salads and leafy greens because they are nutritious, but the mix of cyclospora, egg and blueberry recalls, and the summer of overwhelming Cyclospora outbreaks has made some shoppers more cautious. The unanswered question is not whether people should stop eating greens. It is whether they will keep treating bagged lettuce as a shortcut, or start washing more of it themselves while the outbreak continues.
