Taylor Farms pulling iceberg lettuce after tie to cyclospora outbreak

By Brenda Goodman, Deidre McPhillips, Meg Tirrell, CNN

(CNN) — Shredded iceberg lettuce sold at some Taco Bell restaurants has been linked to an outbreak of cyclosporiasis in five states, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US Food and Drug Administration said. Taylor Fresh Foods, which supplied the lettuce, said Friday that it’s removing all of its iceberg lettuce from central Mexico from the US market.

“Do not eat shredded iceberg lettuce served at Taco Bell locations in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia,” the CDC said in its investigation update.

Cases of the intestinal illness caused by a microscopic parasite are surging across the US, with nearly 7,000 cases confirmed or under investigation since May 1, according to data published Tuesday by the CDC. States have reported at least 180 hospitalizations.

The outbreak linked to the lettuce, however, is considered to be a regional one, centered in the Midwest. The CDC has identified at least 1,644 cases associated with the outbreak across the five affected states. The FDA says additional states may be added as the investigation continues.

“While the FDA traceback is indicating a specific independent farm, which represents less than 1% of the U.S.’s iceberg lettuce supply, as the potential source of the outbreak, we have removed all iceberg lettuce from the region indefinitely,” Taylor Fresh Foods said in a statement. “No other Taylor Fresh Foods products across the country are impacted. No Taylor Farms branded salad kits contain iceberg lettuce.”

Taco Bell said Thursday that it “has taken immediate action to voluntarily remove potentially impacted lettuce from a supplier in select states. The affected ingredient from our supplier is being indefinitely removed from our supply chain nationwide and will be replaced within 24 hours in select states.”

The Michigan state health department has reported more than 5,000 cases of cyclosporiasis during the outbreak investigation.

The state health department said that it “cannot say with certainty that every illness is linked to the same source of exposure” but that the concentrated, sharp increase in cases “strongly suggests that the vast majority of these illnesses are associated with the same outbreak.” This would make it the largest cyclospora outbreak in the US on record.

Cyclosporiasis is not usually spread directly from person to person. Instead, people can become infected by consuming contaminated food or water. Previous outbreaks have been linked to fresh produce, the CDC says.

People with cyclosporiasis may have symptoms that include watery diarrhea, cramping and bloating for weeks.

Federal health officials said there are multiple investigations underway, some tied to the large outbreak in the Midwest, some involving single states and some involving cases not yet tied to any cluster.

Taylor Farms produce has also been linked with previous illness outbreaks, including E. coli cases tied to slivered onions in 2024 and cyclospora cases linked with lettuce in 2013.

CNN’s Katherine Dillinger contributed to this report.

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