Vegetables are an important part of a healthy, balanced diet. Leafy vegetables (called leafy greens on this page) such as lettuce, spinach, cabbage, kale, and bok choy, provide nutrients that help protect you from heart disease, stroke, and some cancers.
But leafy greens, like other vegetables and fruits, are sometimes contaminated with harmful germs. Washing does not remove all germs because they can stick to the surfaces of leaves and even get inside them. If you eat contaminated raw (uncooked) leafy greens, such as in a salad, you might get sick. To prevent contamination, leafy greens should be grown and handled safely at all steps in the journey from farm to fork.
- CDC estimates that germs on produce that is eaten raw cause a large percentage of U.S. foodborne illnesses (also called food poisoning).
- Leafy greens and other vegetable row crops are a major source of E. coli O157 infections.
- Other harmful germs found on leafy greens include norovirus, Salmonella, Listeria, and Cyclospora.
Although anyone can get food poisoning, these groups are more likely to get sick and to have a more serious illness:
- Adults aged 65 and older
- Children younger than 5 years
- People who have health problems or take medicines that lower the body’s ability to fight germs and sickness (a weakened immune system)
- Pregnant women
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