Due to consumer health interests and diet trends consumption of vegetable salads has grown with sales increasing at 20% per year since 1990. Little data is available comparing the microbial quality of organically grown produce to produce grown by conventional methods. This research determined the microflora composition of conventional and organic spring mix. Spring mix or mesclun, a mixture of multiple salad ingredients, provided by a grower of both conventional and organic produce was evaluated for the presence of total mesophilic and psychrotrophic bacteria, Escherichia coli and coliforms, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella spp., yeasts and molds, and lactic acid bacteria. When comparing the size of the populations of each microbial group, washed organic and conventional spring mixes were not significantly different (P=0.05). Populations of all the microbial types tested were significantly (P= 0.05) lower on chlorine washed spring mix than on unwashed spring mix.
