They'd be fine to eat - The red is a trait of the plant. Recall the Rainbow Chard varieties available, its the same plant just grown for the leaves & stems.

Of course finicky eaters would avoid it - And the bits chomped by the critters just indicates how good it is to eat, though some would say cook it first.

Its mould & slime that one needs to be careful of.

Cut the leg off of a pair of old panty hose to make a shaker bag. Pour self rising flour in the sock part and tie off the open end.
Only self rising flour will work. I presume it may be the baking powder that is in self rising flour? .

Shake the self rising flour sock to dust all the leafy vegetables. The self rising flour on the plants will cause all the leaf eating worms to swell up and burst open.

The plants have to be re-dusted after a rain washes it off.

This is the least toxic method to rid leaf eating worms.

msteve666:

I have the same issue. I was wondering if you grow your own beets then I think you could use water with some H2O2 (Hydrogen-Peroxid) and Iodine drops to spray the plants and I am sure the bugs would not eat them. I found good fresh leaves only once from a supermarket, but I thought they must have used some fertilizer to keep them that way. My last purchase was from a farmers market and he took the greens back so that he can feed his animals.

I would not eat the ones with the bug bites. I would love to hear from others.

Thank you.
Archus