FDA probes Taco Bell lettuce in cyclospora outbreak

Federal health officials are investigating iceberg lettuce supplied to Taco Bell by Taylor Farms as a possible source of a widening cyclosporiasis outbreak that has sickened people across the country, according to people familiar with the investigation cited by CBS News and NBC News.

The Food and Drug Administration’s traceback investigation identified a single supplier of iceberg lettuce from Mexico, Taylor Farms, that was used by Taco Bell restaurants in states where people who became ill had eaten, CBS News reported. NBC News reported that the FDA is examining iceberg lettuce supplied to Taco Bell locations in four Midwestern states as a possible source of the outbreak.

The illness is caused by the cyclospora parasite and can bring weeks of severe diarrhea. The outbreak was first reported in early May and has since reached 34 states, according to the latest figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cited by CBS News.

The CDC has confirmed 1,645 illnesses and at least 141 hospitalizations, CBS News reported. NBC News said nearly 7,000 people nationwide may have been sickened, including the confirmed cases and more than 5,100 cases still under investigation. No deaths have been reported.

Michigan has reported the largest number of cases. NBC News reported that the state had 4,312 cases as of Thursday, while its health department said 102 people in Michigan had been hospitalized. CDC counts often lag behind state health department figures.

Earlier this week, the CDC announced an investigation into more than 400 cases in Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky, NBC News reported. Experts told NBC News the Midwestern outbreak is unlikely to explain all cases nationwide and that multiple outbreaks from different sources could be involved.

Michigan health officials had previously identified lettuce and salad greens as a potential source after conducting more than 1,000 interviews with people who tested positive, NBC News reported. Investigators have faced challenges because the parasite’s incubation period can be as long as two weeks.

Taco Bell said this week it had “voluntarily and temporarily removed limited ingredients” at some restaurants as a precaution. A Taco Bell spokesperson told NBC News that “public health officials have not confirmed a link to Taco Bell or any specific ingredient, supplier, restaurant or retailer.” CBS News reported that Taco Bell said it had “voluntarily and temporarily removed limited ingredients at select restaurants as a precautionary measure” because of the outbreak.

Taylor Farms, based in Salinas, California, supplies several major restaurant chains across the United States. CBS News said it had contacted Taylor Farms and Taco Bell for comment. NBC News said Taylor Farms and Yum Brands, Taco Bell’s parent company, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. On its website, Taylor Farms describes itself as the “leading global producer of salads and healthy fresh foods, with production facilities across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Western Europe.”

Taylor Farms has been linked to previous foodborne illness outbreaks. NBC News reported that health officials connected the company to a 2013 cyclosporiasis outbreak that sickened 631 people in 25 states and was traced to a salad mix from a Taylor Farms processing plant in Mexico. Both CBS News and NBC News reported that Taylor Farms was also linked to a 2024 E. coli outbreak involving onions served on McDonald’s Quarter Pounder hamburgers; NBC News said that outbreak sickened 104 people in 14 states, hospitalized nearly three dozen and led to one death.