<table> </table> <hr class="infobox-hr-separator" /> <div class="infobox"> <strong><span class="infobox-head">Heads or bags? </span></strong><br /> There you are in the produce aisle, frozen with indecision. Do you save time and buy bagged lettuce or save money and buy a whole head? Here&#8217;s what to consider:</p><p>&#8226;A head of lettuce, if bought fresh, maintains flavor better than the same variety in a bag. And at a dollar or two a head, it&#8217;s about half the price of bagged. If you skip the plastic bag and put the head right into your cart, it&#8217;s better for Mother Earth.</p><p>&#8226;Bagged lettuce usually lasts longer if the bag is sealed and kept in the crisper. Most bagged greens are washed with a diluted chlorine solution, and some are treated with harmless gases to lengthen their shelf life, says John Rushing, a professor of food bioprocessing and nutrition science at North Carolina State University in Raleigh.</p><p> &#8226;Despite a popular misconception, bagged greens are no more likely to harbor <em>E. coli </em>bacteria than are heads of lettuce &#8212; but you should still wash them. Now, if someone would just invent a biodegradable bag.</p><p></div>