The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an urgent update to its investigation of a widespread outbreak of cyclosporiasis late in the evening of Thursday, July 16, warning people in five states to avoid eating lettuce from Taco Bell restaurants.
“Consumers should avoid eating shredded iceberg lettuce from Mexico at Taco Bell locations in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia,” the federal agency said on its website, adding that its search remains ongoing into potential sources of the parasitic gastrointestinal illness that has infected more than 4,000 people in Michigan alone — and thousands of others nationally.
“Additional states may be added to this advisory as more information becomes available,” the FDA said. “Taco Bell is working to stop use of all lettuce implicated by this investigation. Not all Taco Bell locations in these states received implicated product.”
Public health investigators have epidemiologically tied infections in 1,644 people in those five states after exposure to food from Taco Bell, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is working in collaboration with the FDA and state and local health departments.
The illnesses all began between May 13 and July 13. Among them, 94 people were hospitalized.
It was information from Michigan — an analysis of food exposure details from 190 people who reported eating at Taco Bell — that led to the identification of iceberg lettuce as the likely common source.
“Ingredient level analyses on meals eaten by these cases indicate that 90% of those interviewed reported eating iceberg lettuce,” the FDA’s website says. “FDA’s traceback investigation has identified convergence on a single supplier of iceberg lettuce from Mexico used by Taco Bell locations where sick people ate before becoming ill.
“FDA is working directly with the identified supplier to determine if potentially contaminated shredded iceberg lettuce remains on the market. As part of this investigation, FDA and state partners have initiated collection of product samples for testing and analysis. Additionally, FDA has increased screening at the border for products implicated in the outbreak.”
Taco Bell announced earlier in the evening of July 16 that it is voluntarily removing “potentially impacted lettuce” from restaurants across its U.S. supply chain as public health investigators search for the source of a quickly escalating cyclosporiasis outbreak that’s hit 34 states.
In a statement, Taco Bell said:
“Based on ongoing conversations with public health officials, and out of an abundance of caution, Taco Bell 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.
“While no official advisory has been issued, we believe public health is a shared responsibility among restaurants, their suppliers, and authorities, and we are proud to have consistently acted quickly and proactively to protect our guests. Taco Bell has taken precautionary action, and we encourage all relevant restaurants, retailers, and foodservice operators to do the same.”
Citing unnamed sources, the Washington Post first reported Thursday that Taylor Farms of Salinas, California, supplied shredded iceberg lettuce to Taco Bell restaurants that may have sickened thousands of people in a cyclosporiasis outbreak in Michigan and three other states.
NBC News, also using anonymous sources, reported Taco Bell lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms was a potential source of the outbreak of watery and sometimes “explosive” diarrhea caused by the cyclospora parasite.
Taylor Farms has production facilities across the U.S., Canada, Mexico and western Europe, according to its website. The company did not respond to a request for comment from the Detroit Free Press.
In Michigan alone, 4,312 people have been sickened since June 22, and more than 100 people have been hospitalized. Cases also have been reported in 33 other states nationally, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
On July 13, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services reported public health investigators were zeroing in on lettuce and other salad greens as a potential source of infection but hadn’t ruled out other items. The next day, the CDC announced infections were epidemiologically linked in four states: Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia.
Taco Bell already had removed lettuce and cilantro from many of its Michigan restaurants, which the fast-food chain said was a precautionary move.
Taylor Farms also was implicated in previous outbreaks of foodborne illness.
McDonald’s said the company supplied onions to the fast-food chain in areas impacted by a 2024 E. coli outbreak that sickened 104 people in 14 states, including one death.
Taylor Farms, and one of its farms in Mexico, also was linked to a 2013 cyclospora outbreak that sickened more than 240 people after its salad mix was served at Olive Garden and Red Lobster in Nebraska and Iowa.
The FDA advised anyone with symptoms of cyclosporiasis, which include watery, sometimes explosive diarrhea; abdominal cramping, bloating and pain; low-grade fever; fatigue, and sometimes nausea and vomiting, to contact a health care provider to report symptoms and receive care.
That’s especially important, the FDA said, for anyone who ate shredded iceberg lettuce in the two weeks prior to getting sick.
Additionally:
(This story has been updated with additional information.)
USA Today’s Ken Alltucker, Mike Snider, Melina Khan and Sara Moniuszko contributed.
Contact Kristen Shamus: kshamus@freepress.com. Subscribe to the Detroit Free Press.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: FDA issues urgent warning: Don’t eat Taco Bell lettuce in 5 states
Reporting by Kristen Jordan Shamus, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Kristen Jordan Shamus, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
