Pre-washed bagged salads are one item busy eaters often depend on -- they're ready to go straight from the grocer's refrigerator to your salad bowl in no time at all, providing you with a healthy and quick meal or side in less time than it takes to make toast. But there's a price to this convenience, and according to recent studies by Consumer Reports, that price is a bunch of bacteria on your leafy greens. Even so-called 'triple washed' salads are far from squeaky clean.

Consumer Reports tested 208 containers of salad from 16 different brands. And what did they discover? "[We found] bacteria that are common indicators of poor sanitation and fecal contamination -- in some cases, at rather high levels," says the report. What's more, the amount of bacteria seemed to rise depending on the "sell-by" or "best before"date -- those that were furthest from this date by approximately six to eight days (i.e., the fresher ones) fared better than those that were coming up on theirs.

If there's any good news in these reports, it's this: They didn't find anything that would actually kill you or make you violently ill, such as salmonella or E. coli. But that's not particularly comforting when you're reading the words "fecal contamination" and "salad" in the same sentence, now is it?

The moral of the story? I think it's pretty obvious: Always wash your greens thoroughly. Don't trust the big produce companies to do it for you in the interest of convenience. Also, be sure to keep your salad and veggies away from any meat product or utensils and surfaces that could contaminate them -- and that includes your own hands, by the way. Make sure you're washing them regularly. And if you're still relying on bagged or packaged salads, make sure you pick up the freshest one possible -- check the date on the bags at the back if you have to.