Oil, vinegar and food poisoning?

“Eat your greens.”

That nutritional admonition has been relentlessly aimed at children for many generations.

And in this era of rising obesity, adults also are increasingly told to regularly consume lettuce and spinach in salads in the life-extending cause of getting and staying trim.

But last week, this dispatch from The Associated Press dished up unappetizing news about that supposedly healthy fare:

“A government study has fingered leafy green vegetables as the leading source of food poisoning illnesses.”

That finding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is based on an analysis of U.S. food-poisoning cases from 1998 through 2008.

Though the researchers reported that most food-related deaths came not from leafy green vegetables but from contaminated chicken and other poultry, leafy greens comprised 46 percent of all documented food-poisoning cases.

Do the math: That’s roughly 22 million of the 48 million food-poisoning cases in the U.S. each year.

However, don’t let this news reduce your greens intake.

As the CDC’s experts advise, simply take greater care and thoroughly wash the raw produce for your salads.

And if you want to lose weight and keep it off, go easy on the croutons, bacon bits and ranch dressing.