The Types Of Grocery Store Items That Are Crushing Your Wallet

When shopping for dinner ingredients in any major grocery store, there are lots of convenient items placed in prominent locations that can save you prep and cooking time — but, it'll cost you. One of the biggest wallet-crushers is pre-cut vegetables.

They're convenient, for sure, but there is no price comparison when put up against whole, uncut vegetables. For example, at supermarket chain Wegmans, a whole celery bunch costs around $2.29 for about a pound's worth of green veg. Even though celery is not quite as nutritious as previously thought, that's still pretty good. But, Wegmans also sells pre-cut celery sticks in plastic packaging. The organic kind will set you back around $3.49 for ½ ounce bag, while the non-organic variety costs $2.99 for a little under the same weight. To equal the amount you'd get in a bunch, you'd have to pay more than double the price.

If you can find a spare five minutes at home to cut the celery into sticks yourself, that's a pretty big saving, and it can add up over time. So, if you're counting every penny and you're not in a huge rush to make ants on a log, you can generally get more bang for your buck by bypassing the pre-cut veg.

There are other reasons why you might want to buy whole vegetables instead of pre-cut packets. One major argument against pre-cut veg has to do with health and safety. With fresh produce accounting for about 50% of foodborne pathogen infections, like salmonella and E.coli outbreaks, and recalls seemingly on the rise, it's important to know that pre-cut vegetables may be at a heightened risk of contamination. This is due to the increased handling that the pre-cut food undergoes.

Pre-cut vegetables can also spoil faster in your fridge since there are more parts of the cut vegetable exposed to oxygen, including the insides and flesh. This exposure can lead to oxidation, which can cause vitamin and mineral loss the longer the vegetables sit out. If you know you aren't going to get around to eating your veg right away, make sure you check the expiration or best-buy dates when you shop so you get the newest and freshest items available.