Introduction The importance of this study was to know what lettuce is safe to consume; hand washed or pre-bagged lettuce. This study was relevant in today’s society because people eat lettuce daily. Studying what of the two contains more bacteria is good information to know before consuming it. The overall problem of this study was what lettuce has more bacterial growth; hand washed or pre-bagged. This study would show how much bacteria grows over a period of time on the two different lettuces. After the data was collected I could then calculate how much bacteria grows in the whole head or pack of lettuce with the average. One’s hypothesis for this project is believed that the pre-bagged lettuce will have fewer bacteria. This is believed because it is sold ready to use and has to pass certain government inspections. With this said; it has to be the cleanest and best prepared to eat. Background Research Although there are various types of bacteria capable of growing on lettuce; Escherichia Coli is listed as the most common bacterial outbreak on lettuce. Escherichia Coli is transmitted on vegetables from the manure for fertilization. Even though it is mostly harmless, certain strains can be severe and even fatal for young and elderly. Consuming Escherichia Coli can be prevented by carefully washing produce such as lettuce. Bagged lettuce is advertised as “Ready to Eat” because of the processed used to clean the lettuce. The process is called a chlorine wash. The lettuce is washed in a mixture of chlorine and water that is concentrated two hundred times stronger than normal water. This is done because chlorine is one of the most highly effective bacterial killing substances. Even though pre-bagged lettuce is advertised as “Ready to Eat” this should not be trusted due to certain studies. It is easier for bacteria to grow in the bagged environment because of the closed and moisturized space it is in. It is proven that if just on