The Daily Mail has been at it again; revisiting the bagged salads debate for the umpteenth time with the headline 'Cancer hazard in packed salad'.

The daily newspaper, which consistently shows itself to be no friend of the fresh produce industry, has used its usual source - scaremongering food writer Felicity Lawrence - and the article includes the views of experts claiming that "lettuce in supermarket convenience packs is coated in chemical compounds which have been linked to birth defects".

The argument is based around the chlorine washing of lettuce. The Daily Mail claims that chlorine compounds left as residues post-treatment are linked with an increased risk of bowel, kidney and bladder cancer.

Jon Fielder, disinfectant expert, who interestingly runs a company that develops alternative disinfectant systems, is quoted suggesting that consumers should wash their bagged lettuce thoroughly before eating.

Dr Steve Rothwell, technical director at Vitacress, responded on behalf of the industry: "It is necessary to sanitise if you are going to sell them as a table-ready product," he said.

And he hit out at the lack of context in Fielder's claims. "If you test the chlorine levels remaining on the salad before eating you would find that they are lower than that of drinking water.

"People like Felicity Lawrence write these inflamatory books, but eating salads massively reduces your cancer risk."

Tesco said: "Salads are grown in fields where bacteria will always be present. Washing with chlorinated water is a sensible step."

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