The cyclosporiasis outbreak has prompted some restaurateurs to question whether lettuce is actually worth it at this point.
I have wondered this for all of my life.
I don’t like lettuce. I can’t stomach it one bit. I have wished I could love salad, because it’s an obvious healthy choice I would embrace if I liked it even a little.
But I don’t.
Not one bit. Nor do I like many of the veggies included in salad, and I find salad dressing flat-out disgusting.
But when it comes to lettuce, it’s nutritionally bereft. Lettuce is typically less than one percent of the calories or protein in your standard lunchtime bowl. It’s more than 95 percent water, and it adds little beyond fiber.
And even that ain’t much. Two cups of iceberg lettuce, for example, contain about a gram of fiber.
So it’s calorieless, proteinless, and pointless.
I’ve still wished that I liked it for a long time, but I’m now starting to wonder if I’m not better off avoiding it altogether.
The tradeoff for any of its benefits is considerable:
Leafy greens are responsible for 9.18 percent of foodborne illnesses every year, with lettuce responsible for 60.8 percent of those leafy green outbreaks. Researchers estimated that leafy greens are associated with approximately 2.3 million foodborne illnesses and as much as $5.28 billion in economic costs annually.
And lettuce accounted for as much as 75.7 percent of the resulting illnesses and 70 percent of the estimated costs.
When it comes to making people sick, lettuce is doing a fantastic job.
And when those outbreaks strike, sales can take an enormous toll.
U.S. fresh-lettuce unit sales fell 9 percent during the recent outbreak, and Taco Bell foot traffic was down more than 11 percent year over year as the outbreak weighed on consumer confidence, which is why some restaurants are seriously considering removing lettuce from many of their offerings.
Elysha and I had Mexican on Friday night, and I ordinarily have to ask them to leave the lettuce off my tacos. But my server said my tacos contained no lettuce.
Nor did Charlie’s.
I’m not sure if lettuce was once included in our tacos or we just happened to choose tacos that never contained lettuce, but I was surprised.
When was the last time you had a taco without lettuce?
So I find myself with a new look at life. Rather than lamenting my inability to stomach lettuce, I wonder if I have been making the safe, rational choice all along.
I’ve been vomit-free since 1983, so perhaps my avoidance of lettuce has contributed to my iron-clad stomach, or at least helped to keep my streak alive.
To hell with that insidious, leafy green carrier of disease and headache.
Leave lettuce to the rabbits.
I’ll stick with eating a roll from the bread basket while my friends and family risk their health on a nutritionless disaster waiting to happen.
