What's the deal with supermarkets and lettuce companies putting moisture on vegetables?

It makes shoppers think the product is more fresh. Other than that, no benefit.

It might be to shock the lettuce to make look healthier by shocking the the top layer with cold water making it give a slightly brighter color,

The spray does keep the produce from drying out and keep it looking fresher and more appealing. It also makes it heavier so you pay more for it when weighed at the check out. If you really want to see the cause and effect of what this spaying offers, next time you shop, when you come home leave the Romaine lettuce and broccoli sit out on your kitchen counter for 8 hours.

It keeps the turgor pressure up so they appear more fresh.

It keeps the produce from drying out, or so I’ve thought.
How to make your lettuce last longer? Put a paper towel in the bag with the lettuce, and keep it there until the lettuce is gone. If the lettuce seems overly damp, use 2 paper towels.

Good tip @kritiper I do the opposite with celery where I wrap the bottom of the stalks with a paper towel and then saturate with water and put it in an open plastic bag. Stays crunchy for a couple weeks or more.

Eye and nose appeal… marketing 101.

I do put paper towels in with my lettuce and herbs. It works well, but this last time I bought the super large spring mix and the lettuce at the bottom got icky. I didn’t put the towels in well.

@Cruiser 8 hours dry on my counter in 77 degrees it won’t be in terrible shape. 42 degrees in my fridge it won’t look bad at all. In fact that’s how I store it, dry and in the fridge. Even the 60 odd degrees in the supermarket it’s find for 2–3 days. Back when we were kids they didn’t rain on the produce in stores. That’s a newish thing.

It makes it look sexy on the shelves.

The pre-bagged “Spring Mix” is loaded in a sealed and dry bag. Any moisture is from the the greens, the flatter the bag the newer the salad. As the greens breakdown they produce gasses that puff up the bag and make a slimy mess.

Marketing ploy.

I core my lettuce then pour water into the core and wrap a paper towel around it and dampen the towel. Lettuce keeps for twice as long. Same for celery.

I think the spray just helps keep them fresh.

I noticed yesterday this new drudge of mine had the veg drawer set on the highest humidity. I just set it all the way down, maybe that was part of my recent problem.

@Tropical_Willie Some supermarkets spray the unbagged produce on the shelf, but then it’s wet when you put it in one of the supermarket bags. Some supermarkets have paper towels nearby the wipe them offf.

@Dutchess_III so you keep your lettuce wet inside and out? What about the loose whole leaf lettuce like what’s in springmix or loose spinach?

I think if they are dry looking, it’s unappealing. Wet = images of freshness like they were just picked.

Typo: drudge should be fridge.

They sell produce by weight, dried out produce equals less money.

@JLeslie I only buy heads of lettuce. It’s less expensive. Lasts longer, too. Unless I don’t know what “loose whole leaf lettuce” is. Or spring mix. Or loose spinach. Which I guess I don’t know what those are. Are they processed or broken apart from the original produce or something?

@Tropical_Willie Yes, but moist produce=lasts longer at home.

@Dutchess_III Spring mix is like a bag of spinach. It’s whole leaf lettuce of various variety. It isn’t like buying iceberg broken up in a bag, I would never buy that.

Spring Mix is a mix of various types of greens. When you go to a restaurant and get a “good” salad, that’s what spring mix is.

So bacteria can flourish.

Is “whole leaf lettuce in a bag” individual lettuce leaves?

Bagged greens are either chopped up or stripped off the stem, whatever makes sense for that species.

Well, it’s been my experience that when you break it up, it spoils more quickly. Like I said, when I buy lettuce I wrap it in a damp paper towel and it lasts for a LONG time. the outer leaves may get spotty, but they tightly protect the leaves under it so you just peel the “bad” outer leaves off to reveal perfect, crisp leaves underneath. If they’re all broken up, they all go bad at once.

Carrots keep for a long long time. In a bag of mixed greens, everything goes bad as quickly as the one bit of veggie that goes bad first.

Everything that can’t be kept in the fridge or in a tin goes bad quickly in Florida. Humidity and heat and mold…

I only buy a bagged salad if I’m going to serve it that night.

Well, lettuce is kept in the fridge. Here it is, anyway. I’m saying that even in the fridge, the loose leaves good bad more quickly than the tightly packed heads.