LOL! That's a good description of it! I agree. I can smell and taste it, and it always reminds me of stale outgassing plastic. (And I always wash produce even if they claim it is pre-washed.) I haven't figured out any way to get rid of it. The only pre-mix I've found that doesn't have that smell/taste is the Earthbound Farms tubs.
DH hatess the smell/taste, too, and you'd think as a smoker he wouldn't pick up on it.

I just buy whole lettuce because it keeps longer anyway. It's getting harder and harder to find, though.

I agree, I can taste the preservatives they put on that lettuce. I can also taste it on the stuff at Subway, it's an odd metallic kind of taste. Other people tell me I'm nuts but my old doctors told me that some people were "super tasters" and that we certainly could taste things that others didn't, something about more tastebuds.

I just cut up a head of lettuce, it's easier for me too and I don't have any trouble getting iceberg or romaine. In "season", I grow my own.

Annie

Most lettuce, bagged or unbagged, is rinsed with diluted chlorine to retard bacterial growth as part of its processing.

I agree that the smell is bad. The salad dressing I use is usually so strong it masks any tastes. But I never buy any for home, always buy the heads.

They put certain gases in the chips bags to keep them from crushing. Maybe they do the same with the lettuce.

It's not the chlorine I taste....it's something else....and I particularly taste it at cheap salad bars.
And I also taste it at subway....and I can smell it!
And there's another taste/smell...I call it school lunch or hospital food taste and smell. I have no idea what it is but it's present in gravy and soups and some vegetables. I literally gag when I smell it. I wonder if it's something to do with grease inside a vent fan mixed with the cooking meat smell?
Nope no bagged lettuce....but as has been said bagged spinach is OK as is shredded cabbage...don't buy it often but when I do it's OK.
Linda C

You know, now that I think about it, I used to get the same flavor/smell from the bags of pre-cut mixed veggies they used to get in at the restaurant. For a lot of the menu items, the chef would take the trouble to prepare vegetables that complimented whatever the dish was, but those bags of pre-cuts were always on hand for banquets and some of the other dishes. Lots of restaurants serve them, they come from Sysco, and are a mix usually of zucch, yellow squash, carrots, onions and peppers...sometimes broccoli or cauliflower.

They were convenient, as no prep was necessary, but I couldn't stand that weird smell/flavor. Sometimes, I can smell it when I walk into a restaurant and pass by tables that have already been served their entrees.

Bleah. I have always bought whole lettuces and other greens and prepared them myself. Guess I won't be opting for the "convenience" of the bagged salad mixes any time soon.

ItÂs the same with those bags of so called baby carrots just the small when you open it. DH knows a few of the big carrot farmers in Bakersfield and he says they just put the carrots though a machine that sands them down to look like baby carrots. I need to ask him to find out what they do with whatÂs left over. Carrot sawdust?

Claudia

Claudia, it's sold to be mixed into feed, is what I heard.

Years ago, they used to use sulfites to keep veggies fresh and potatoes from turning. (In fact, one of the products was called Potato White.)

Still, this smell doesn't smell like that did. The bagged lettuce smell is musty and chemcially. It almost reminds me of the formaldehyde smell from high school biology classes.

I think refrigerated storage must not be to temperature either in transit or in storage at the store, not cleaned and sanitized often, and there is mold on food in storage, and mold spores on a lot of produce and packaging that causes that musty smell.

Rotting potatoes are my bug-a-boo. When I was a kid it was my job to go through the homegrown potatoes in the "cave" and pull out the ones that were going bad. OOOOOO that smell!!! To this day I can approach the potatoes at the store and smell a rotting potato from 10 paces and am quick to nab the oblivious "12-year old" working in produce and I'll root around and pull out a couple of bags of potatoes where I spy a rotting potato and have them remove the bags.

-Grainlady

We eat tons of bagged lettuces and spinach, it's a mainstay of our diet, and have found some brands have the smell and some don't. The organic romaine hearts and spinach that we eat the most of, do not. I also will not buy it unless it is very fresh and will go to other grocery stores (across the street so it's not that big a deal) to get the freshest.

I have never bought a bag that came with croutons and dressing.

I fund them to be a huge convenience over washing dirty spinach.

As I remember, there is a method that veggies and fruits are stored. They use Nitrogen or argon gas to prevent oxidation.

I don't know if that has anything to do with the funny taste.

dcarch

I know the smell you mean I sometimes smell it when I open up one of those Debbie Whatsherfaces bags I use to store lettuce. I thought it was the gas that is expelled from the veggies but I have no idea why I think that. I never smell that smell when I use a cloth lettuce keeper.

I have never noticed any sort of 'off' odor from bagged salad mixes.
Nor any 'off' taste, either.
And I can taste the preservatives or whatever in any baked goods made from mixes, no matter what is added to it to supposedly 'disguise' it.
So I think I would notice it if it were there.

Maybe the brand I buy is different from what you all get.
I don't buy the bagged salads that come with the dressing, croutons, etc.
Just the spring mixes, the baby lettuce mixes, and the herb mixes.

It is much more economical when buying for one.
If I were to try to buy all the different ingredients individually, most would go bad before I could use them.

So with the bags I get the variety I like, and no loss to spoilage.

Iceberg lettuce is NOT something I eat willingly, and Romaine runs a very close second to that.

Rusty

Rusty, that's how I feel about nearly all lettuces, whether it be "baby greens", "spring mix", mesclun, I don't really care about any of them. I don't dislike them, I'm just apathetic. I'll buy lettuce and it usually sits in the fridge until it gets slimy and I toss it, or I feed it to Ashley's pet rabbit.

I will eat raw spinach once in a great while, and I like cooked greens very much.

I've never seen an herb mix in one of those bags.

Annie

Annie, there is salad mix available here occasionaly, that is called an 'herb mix'.
It is basically the 'spring' greens, with parsely, dill, and sometimes cilantro in it. I love it!
AFTER I pick the cilantro out!
That stuff tastes to me, like a barn yard smells! :>)

I don't have the option, (luxury) of growing my own anything here.

How I envy you that!

Rusty

rusty, I know it's bad, but I grew romaine, a mesclun mix and some kind of a mixed lettuce last year and never ate a bite of any of it. Elery did, Amanda did, Ashley's pet rabbit did. I didn't, in spite of my good intentions when I planted it.

That's a good idea to add the herbs, I never thought of it. Maybe it would help...

Annie

A few stores here sell the "spring mix" and spinach leaves loose. You use their tongs and fill up your produce bag with as much as you want. That's what I buy. I much prefer the mix to iceberg or romaine which I'm usually stuck with if I can't make it to one of the stores that carries it loose when I need it.

I have bought the kinds in the bags before but I'm no fan of it. I don't think I've ever really put my finger on WHY I don't like the bagged stuff... maybe you've solved it.

Speaking of lettuce.........seems like a wedge of icebereg with a big dollop of blue Cheese dressing is making a comeback on restaurant menus.

My Mom used to make that for really fancy dinners! Maybe she used Thousand Island sometimes too...not sure.

Clive's favourite salad is iceberg lettuce with Kraft Catalina dressing, tomatoes and cukes. That's OK he has so many good qualities I can overlook it! LOL

Now back to the regular scheduled programming!

I only buy head lettuce, and fortunately it is in season here now. I've considered growing it, but I can only do that in the winter, and so that still leaves most of the year out. I almost bought some lettuce plants at the nursery a couple of weeks ago, and I should have because of all the rain we've been having. I never buy spinach in bags either and don't mind washing it, since it is quite a bit cheaper to buy in bulk.

Sorry I can't comment on the bag issue.

Lars

So that explains what it is about Subway that I don't like. I always get their veggie delite, but don't go there unless there's not an option. Lately, their sandwiches have gotten a little better - I wonder if they've changed suppliers.

Count me in with those that notice the taste and smell. They're just plain yucky. I do buy bagged spinach. Every once in a while I'll decide to be frugal and buy bunch spinach, but by the time I get it washed clean and remove the big stems, I've lost both time and quite a bit of the product, (half seems to be stems) so I decided those pre-washed bags are easier to deal with.

I like Romaine lettuce, and the Organic spring mixes, which don't have that smell or taste. But I do like to grow my own, too, when it's the right season. My local store offers the bulk spring mix, but they wet it down with those misters, and I don't want to pay for water.

Sally

I looooove good crisp fresh iceberg lettuce...in a wedge with either blue cheese dressing ( my recipe) or Imperial dressing ( also my recipe...mayo based junk food!)
Hate those bags of "salad mix".....but for some reason the plastic boxes are ok....
Go figure.
Linda C

Wow, I suddenly realize... I have never bought a bag of lettuce or any other greens. That's why I was surprised to hear about the smell an taste. Hubby used to buy baby carrots for snacks but I always preferred the large ones, with skin. Not too crazy about the peeled stuff. Don't know why people like them; they look wet and naked! LOL Al

I can taste and smell the preservatives in the bagged lettuce. It’s so awful I can’t even eat it. I don’t personally know anyone else who has this problem, so it makes me feel a little better to know that I’m not the only one . Due to this problem I do not eat the lettuce from Subway, and sometimes (not always) I can taste it in the lettuce from Olive Garden.

if you buy bagged stuff, soak the contents it in cold water and vinegar for at least 10 minutes, and then rinse several times ...

I alway thought the bagged salads tasted metallic. I notice that smell when folks cut up head lettuce and other leafy greens with a knife though it is not as strong.

Many years ago when I was a child my Grandma told me to always tear by hand all greens...never cut. I don't remember if she ever said why.

I think that is why. I tear all my leafy greens to avoid that odd taste

It's not the preservatives that give bagged greens an 'off' taste - very few use actual preservatives (and none if you buy organic greens). But it is the solutions they use to wash the produce before bagging. It's not just water being used. There are proprietory GRAS chemical solutions used to make sure the greens are 'clean'....as in not harboring harmful pathogens, insect larvae, etc. as well as the dirt and grit that is a natural part of growing operations.

Personally, it is not enough off-putting to me to sacrifice the convenience of bagged or boxed greens. As a single person, a head of lettuce usually rots before I can eat it all so the smaller servings of bagged greens just makes more sense. Especially if I do the mixed greens. And a good salad dressing easily disguises the slight, 'off' taste :-)

I don't find any much flavor difference between the "triple washed" and head lettuce here, though I do prefer the boxes to the bags with the air sucked out. Freshly picked is another story. I'm picky about which brands I'll buy and inspect what I can see. Gardengal, thanks for the explanation about the washing agent. I think I have caught whiffs of that on some lesser kinds. My favorite is wild arugula, and there's no other way to get it here. :)

mamapinkyO, I was told by an elderly German lady to tear, not cut with metal knives because the edge of the green would turn brown. I have a pair of plastic knives made for this purpose, cannot remember what they are called. I most often tear the greens.

I thought it was just me!! lol😆I WON’t buy premade salad mix because of this, its so sad!! Because I eat salad about four times a week and there is a lot of work that goes into it. I really wish they would change the packaging!!

13 year old thread revived? 🙄

@Judi, many bulletin board sites require you to comment on existing threads on the same topic. Additionally, Houzz features old threads sometimes, and if you accidentally touch a link at the top of the index, you can get a whole page of old stuff and maybe not notice it. Also, newer folks might find the thread on a search and not notice the date. I open these because the new posts are usually spam with outside links to report. I think MT is legit, however.

Sometimes posts are edited within a few days, too.

What bugs me is that “bagged” greens often comes in clear plastic tubs that are so solid, in third world countries they’d probably get re-used, but here they can’t even be recycled, just thrown away to end up as microplastics in our food and selves. I refuse to buy that packaging, so it’s heads of spinach or lettuce for me.

I think MT is legit, however.

Only 1 post.

Newbies are generally the legit posters who add to old threads like this (though I've occasionally had one where I missed the date, myself). And perhaps scared away when they get jumped on. The spammers usually haven't read the other posts and are off target, and have outside links, or merchandise recommendations. I wait for the actual spam to judge. Everybody has to have a first post somewhere. But Sushipup has a good point. I haven't seen it, but maybe the trick is to add outside info later. Like maybe MT is shilling new packaging, Anyway, in answer to your question, I was just trying to point out the potentially innocent ways old threads get revived. We all know the self serving versions.

I've noticed that there's a whiff of AI in many of the posts that get edited to spam, they are more relevant and detailed than in the past. There's a window of about a week for editing. I just say that I am following someone so that I mark the thread and then can look it up in my "Activity" and monitor it for a week. Or sometimes I just "like" a post with the same ability to monitor.

I try not to jump on people, although I've made mistakes in the past.

Wow! I never even thought of AI. AI is supposed to improve user experience, but I've only encountered the kind that adds layers of unnecessary gobbledegook.