Rocket

Studies in people

• Benefit

  Heart and blood vessel health³

  Nitrate in rocket and other leafy greens may help blood pressure and heart health, but long-term effects are still unknown.

Animal and lab studies only

• Open question

  Gut bacteria survival⁷

  Rocket salads carry live bacteria, and some survive digestion, which may add to the gut's bacteria.

Study type not stated

• Benefit

  Blood pressure and heart health⁵

  Nitrate in rocket and beetroot is a source of nitric oxide, which may help blood pressure and heart health.

Found in some samples or products

These come from where it was grown, how it was processed or cooked, or what it was made into. They are not about the ingredient itself, so the signal does not count them.

• Hepatitis A risk²

  In a Swedish outbreak, people who got hepatitis A were more likely to have eaten imported rocket salad.

• Food poisoning from salad⁴

  In 2022, bagged rocket salad from Sweden was linked to a Salmonella outbreak that made 109 people sick.

How it’s made and used

• Iron absorption from vegetables⁶

  In lab studies, rocket microgreens and mature rocket released iron differently, but rocket's iron uptake was similar in both forms.

The signal at the top counts the findings in people and in animal and lab studies. A concern in studies of people outranks animal and lab studies, and “No concerns” needs at least one finding in people. When most findings in people point one way, the page leans that way (“Mostly”), and every finding is still shown. Findings whose study type is not stated are shown but not counted. This page is a reference, not medical advice. It describes what regulators and published research say. Talk to a doctor or dietitian about your own diet.