Is It Safe to Eat Romaine Lettuce?

A healthy eating pattern can be both nutritious and tasty when highlighting fresh, seasonal produce. One of the best ways to include fruits and vegetables in your meals is to add them to a salad. But if you’re hesitant to use romaine lettuce as the base, we can understand why.

Through the years, romaine lettuce has been prone to foodborne illness contaminants, including E. coli outbreaks. And in the Netflix documentary Poisoned: The Dirty Truth About Your Foodmultiple food-safety officials, advocates and experts interviewed stated that they steered clear of romaine lettuce due to the risk of contamination.

So is romaine lettuce safe to eat? We’re breaking down the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s advice on what you should know before you buy the leafy green.

Should You Eat Romaine Lettuce?

According to the CDC, many foodborne illnesses in the U.S. are linked to germs on raw fruits and vegetables. This includes the spread of bacteria like E. colinorovirus, Salmonella, Listeria and more. Sensitive groups like those age 65 and older, immunocompromised individuals, children younger than age 5 and pregnant women may experience severe symptoms from foodborne illness.

While the headlines make it seem as if all romaine is harboring illness-causing germs, the reality is less attention-grabbing.

According to the CDC, millions of servings of leafy greens are eaten safely every day in the United States. If you’re looking to consume raw romaine lettuce—or any fruit or vegetable for that matter—you should be washing your raw produce before eating or cooking to help remove any dirt, germs and bacteria on the surface.

The first step in properly washing your lettuce is to wash your hands and surfaces the greens are likely to come in contact with. Remove bruised or torn leaves, then thoroughly wash the lettuce under running water. You do not have to use special produce-cleaning products. After drying your lettuce with a clean kitchen towel or paper towel, it’s ready to eat. That’s all it takes to help prevent harmful diseases from spreading in your kitchen, food or body.

There are some exceptions to this. The CDC notes that if bagged romaine lettuce products have labels like “ready to eat,” “triple washed” and “no washing necessary,” you don’t need to wash the greens, as they have already been commercially washed, which helps remove potential illness-causing germs.

Our Expert Take

Unless your product is recalled, romaine lettuce is safe to eat. It also has amazing benefits like supporting bone health, eye health and skin health, thanks to it being packed with vitamins K and A. By rinsing your produce, including romaine lettuce, under water before consuming, you can help prevent the spread of foodborne illnesses.