RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Ever wonder what the words triple-washed or pre-washed on a bag of baby spinach mean?
Not much according to engineers at the University of California, Riverside. They discovered that small peaks and valleys in baby spinach leaves could be a key reason why there have been numerous bacterial outbreaks involving leafy green vegetables.
Currently, disinfectant is put into the rinse water, and not specifically applied to the leaf surface. The researchers in the Bourns College of Engineering found that because of the varied topography of the spinach leaf nearly 15 percent of the leaf surface may reach concentrations as low as 1,000 times that of the bleach disinfectant being used to rinse it.
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