Iceberg lettuce is the large, round lettuce with a tight, crisp head of pale, juicy leaves — the classic “crisphead.” Bred for shipping durability and long shelf life, it dominated Western salads for decades: shatteringly crunchy, refreshingly watery, and mild enough to please everyone. Nutritionists long sniffed at its paleness — darker leaves carry more vitamins and phytochemicals — but iceberg still supplies water, some folate and vitamin K, and the satisfying crunch that makes salads eaten. Food-safety history touched it too: bagged salads’ E. coli outbreaks taught the industry hard lessons about wash-water and cold chains. Fashion now favours darker leaves, but the wedge salad — iceberg with blue cheese — remains an American steakhouse icon.