Taylor Farms pulling lettuce linked to cyclospora outbreak

After the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention linked shredded iceberg lettuce sold at some Taco Bell restaurants to an outbreak of cyclosporiasis in five states, the grower, Taylor Fresh Foods, said Friday that it’s removing all iceberg lettuce from the US market. 

The CDC said the shredded lettuce was sent to Taco Bell locations in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia. In a notice posted Thursday night, the agency warned the public not to eat shredded iceberg lettuce served at Taco Bell locations in those states.

It remains unclear if Taylor Farms sent the lettuce to other vendors, said one of the officials, who was not cleared to speak for the administration. The CDC has not publicly named Taylor Farms in its investigation.

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.

More than 1,644 people reported eating at Taco Bell before becoming sick with the parasitic infection, and 94 had been hospitalized, according to the CDC.

Food and Drug Administration officials also said the lettuce was grown by a single supplier in Mexico. The agency has stepped up screening at the border for the company’s lettuce, according to an agency update posted Thursday night.

The FDA said that other restaurants and stores may be implicated as health officials continued their investigation. And not all Taco Bell locations in the five states had received the affected lettuce.

In a statement Thursday night, Taco Bell said it was voluntarily removing potentially affected lettuce it had received from a supplier in select states. It did not identify the supplier but said that the lettuce from that supplier would be “indefinitely removed” from its supply chain nationwide and would be replaced quickly.

The United States is on track to have more cyclospora cases in 2026 than in any previous year, with 1,645 confirmed cases and 141 hospitalizations across 34 states as of Monday, according to the CDC. The agency is investigating more than 5,100 additional illnesses that may have been caused by the parasite, which is transmitted through food or water contaminated with feces.

Health officials are also investigating other cyclosporiasis illnesses and outbreaks in other states that are unrelated to the one linked to Taco Bell, the CDC said in its notice posted Thursday night.

Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, the chief medical executive for Michigan, said in an interview Tuesday that not everyone sickened in the state had reported eating at a single restaurant. A supplier that sells a product to restaurants may also stock grocery stores, she said.

Many people who have gotten sick said they did not eat at Taco Bell.

Other states with higher than usual cyclospora cases this year include North Carolina, Illinois, Maryland and Texas.

In Wake County, North Carolina, health officials are planning to release new numbers Friday on the impact the outbreak has had locally. 

There are more than 300 cases across North Carolina. More than 230 of those are in Wake County.

A total of 13 people have been hospitalized in the state, including five in Wake County.

►Related: More people are seeking Cyclospora tests. Here's what patients should know

With around $7 billion in annual revenue, Taylor Farms, based in Salinas, California, is one of the largest producers of fresh lettuce and vegetables in the country. Bags of its chopped salad kits can be found at Walmart, Whole Foods, Target and other grocery stores, and it is a leading supplier of lettuce and other produce to many large restaurant chains.

Taylor Farms has been involved in previous food-borne illness outbreaks, including a cyclosporiasis outbreak linked to salad mix that sickened hundreds in 2013. Health officials considered the supplier the likely source of an E. coli outbreak linked to onions served at McDonald’s in 2024 that resulted in 104 illnesses, 34 hospitalizations and one death.

The Washington Post was first to report the connection between Taylor Farms and the outbreak.

Once they are infected, it can take days to weeks for people to develop symptoms. The main symptom is frequent, watery diarrhea. A loss of appetite, cramping, bloating, gas, nausea, fatigue and weight loss can also occur. Though the illness rarely causes serious complications, its symptoms can sometimes linger for a month or more if untreated. Antibiotics are the main treatment.

Tracing cyclospora cases back to a source is a labor-intensive task. Health officials must interview thousands of people who have been infected about everything they ate and drank over weeks and then research the ingredients in each of their meals and snacks and investigate their suppliers. Because of their biology, parasitic infections tend to be much harder to link together than bacterial infections.

The outbreak comes as state and local health departments — which rely on CDC funding to respond to foodborne illness outbreaks — face budget cuts and staff layoffs.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.