You are eating ‘toxic salad greens’

• Image Credit: Atiq-Ur-Rehman/Gulf News
• A plate of jarjeer, also known as arugula or rocket leaf.

Abu Dhabi: Locally grown fresh salad vegetables are contaminated by very dangerous bacteria because of unhygienic farm practices and improper food handling from the farm to the table, academics warned.

They also warned nearly 43 per cent of water wells in the country are contaminated with bacteria that exceed the standard level of safe consumption, even for irrigation of crops.

The warning came on the heels of demands by the Federal National Council to adopt an integrated approach to food safety to ensure a high level of food safety, animal welfare and plant health across the UAE through coherent farm-to-table measures and adequate monitoring.

“If there is a serious epidemic or outbreak of life-threatening gastrointestinal disease we will know the source, namely, the contaminated salad greens we are eating nearly every day,” said Dr Dennis J. Russell, professor of biology, department of biology, chemistry and environmental science at the American University of Sharjah.