While some Taco Bell restaurants have removed ingredients from some stores related to the gastrointestinal illness cyclosporiasis, Indianapolis locations continue to serve food with its regular produce ingredients.
Taco Bell said its removal of some ingredients was a precautionary move as thousands of people have been infected with the illness.
In a statement to USA TODAY, Taco Bell Corp. said it has “voluntarily and temporarily removed limited ingredients at select restaurants as a precautionary measure. We will continue to closely monitor the situation and follow the guidance of public health authorities.”
The restaurant chain didn’t identify locations where it has pared down ingredients or where menu items were affected. The Detroit Free Press reported several metro Detroit locations stopped selling lettuce and cilantro.
No confirmed link to Taco Bell in cyclospora outbreaks
As of July 16, restaurants in Indianapolis had not eliminated any produce from its menu items.
Taco Bell said public health officials have not “confirmed a link to Taco Bell or any specific ingredient, supplier, restaurant or retailer.”
Cyclosporiasis, or the disease caused by the parasite Cyclospora cayetanensis, has been confirmed in 1,645 cases as of July 13 and is under investigation in more than 5,100 additional cases, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Confirmed or suspected cases have been reported in 34 states, CDC officials said.
As of July 15, 274 cases have been reported in Indiana, according to the Indiana Department of Health.
The CDC also said testing and other evidence indicates a cluster of cases in four states − Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky − are likely linked. However, the nation’s foremost public health agency hasn’t publicly identified a common supplier, distributor or business.
The parasitic infection can cause watery or explosive diarrhea, cramping, nausea, fatigue and other symptoms.
Health officials identified lettuce or salad greens as potential sources but said other food items could not be ruled out.
When asked specifically about Taco Bell, the FDA’s Acting Deputy Commissioner for Food Donald Prater said the agency “is continuing its traceback investigation on multiple produce items, also including locations that are reported by the case patients before they became sick.”
State and local health department investigators and the Food and Drug Administration are collecting information on where, when and what infected individuals ate. That information is analyzed along with lab testing data, CDC officials said.
“Right now we don’t have a specific source identified, and we’re working very hard to continue collecting and analyzing those data,” Gwen Biggerstaff, deputy director of CDC’s division of foodborne, waterborne and environmental diseases, said on July 14.
Contact reporter Cheryl V. Jackson at cjackson@usatodayco.com or 317-444-6264. Follow her on X.com: @cherylvjackson or Bluesky: @cherylvjackson.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Taco Bell keeps ingredients at Indianapolis stores amid parasite outbreak
Reporting by Cheryl V. Jackson and Ken Alltucker, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Cheryl V. Jackson and Ken Alltucker, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
