FOOD experts have been carrying out an investigation over the last three years - to find out if lettuce is good for us!

Lancashire County Council's Analyst and Scientific Advisers' Laboratory, one of six in the UK taking part in a monitoring programme, has been testing samples of the plant since 1998, they revealed today

The programme is due to finish at the end of the year.

A European Union regulation dictates that regular checks have to be carried out on lettuce and spinach to ensure nitrate levels are kept within the law.

Nitrates can be converted into hazardous chemicals by the body and are particularly rife in green leafy products like lettuce and spinach, which is also being tested.

Nitrate is determined by light intensity, temperature and whether a crop is grown under glass or not -- so experts want to monitor growing practices.

A previous UK Monitoring Programme for nitrate in lettuce conducted in 1997 and 1998 revealed little contamination.

Seven of 52 samples of lettuce and six of the 17 spinach samples were found to have above average European Commission levels of nitrate.

However this was within acceptable levels for daily intake.

The county council laboratory was the first in the UK to be accredited for food enforcement analysis.

Forty people work in the lab but only three have been directly involved with the programme. They have collected samples from trading standards officers from suppliers across the county.

Central government pays for the scheme, so no money comes from the county council funds.

A Lancashire County Council spokesman said: "This is for consumers to know they are getting stuff that hasn't got high levels of nitrate.

"But it's also good for them because they can see the regulations are being followed."

County Councillor Tim Ormrod, cabinet member for public protection and the countryside, said: ""People in Lancashire probably never realise just how much work goes on behind the scenes to ensure the food we buy is safe and fit for consumption.

"Lancashire has a long tradition of supplying lettuce and other fruit and vegetables to many parts of the country.

"The rigorous testing done by our own Analyst and Scientific Advisers' Laboratory ensures confidence in our product is high. By working together analysts and trading standards officers carry out a vital, and often unknown service for the people of Lancashire and beyond."

And wholesalers, while judging the programme a little excessive, were glad that standards were enforced.

David Fox, owner of Fox Thomas, Blackburn Road, Clayton-le-Moors, said: "I don't really think it's necessary, lettuces are safe enough.

"They must think it is worth it, and must have a lot of money to throw away. Lettuce is good for you, but if it's the legislation then they are bound to it."

Jack Norris, the managing director of Bassetts of Railway Road, Darwen, said: "Most of the lettuce we get come from the Spain anyway. We had a poor showing of the English lettuce last year.

"They are not growing them because we are not getting a lot of money for them.

"But I think it's a good thing that are doing the tests to keep the standards."