Iceberg lettuce supplier being investigated by FDA as source of cyclosporiasis outbreak
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July 16, 2026, 5:51 PM EDT / Updated July 16, 2026, 8:52 PM EDT
By Erika Edwards and Sara G. Miller
The Food and Drug Administration is investigating iceberg lettuce supplied to Taco Bell by Taylor Farms as a possibleat causes weeks of severe diarrhea, in five states, according to a person familiar with the investigation
Nationwide,nearly 7,000 people may have been sickened, with 1,645 of those cases confirmed and more than 5,100 still under investigation, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. No deaths have been reported
Earlier this week, the CDC announced an investigation into more than 400 cases in Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky. Asday that Indiana appears to be part of that outbreak
The possible outbreak
It’s unclear whether produce from Taylor Farms could be linked to cases in other states with cases. Health officials have said it’s likely that multiple outbreaks are ongoing in at least 34 states
In an emailed statement, Taco Bell said it has voluntarily removed lettuce suspected in the outbreak from its supply chain nationwide “indefinitely” and will replace it in selected states within the next day
“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,” the statement read. “We encourage all relevant restaurants, retailers, and foodservice operators to do the same.”
Taylor Farms did not immediately respond to a request for comment
Michigan has been hit hardest in the outbreak, with 4,312 cases as of Thursday. (The CDC’s count often lag behind state counts.) The state’s health department said that 102 people in Michigan have had to be hospitalized
Michigan health officials previously flaggedlettuce and salad greens as a potentiald positive
Getting to the for the parasite to make a person sick can be up to two weeks
This isn’t the first time Taylor Farms has been connected to a cyclosporiasis outbreak. In 2013, 631 people in 25 states were sickened by a salad mix linked to the company, health officials concluded. Many of the illnesses occurred in Iowa and Nebraska among people who’d eaten at Olive Garden and Red Lobster. The outbreak was eventually traced to a salad mix from a Taylor Farms processing plant in Mexico
Health officials also determined that Taylor Farms was also at the root of a 2024 E. coli outbreak linked to slivered onions on McDonald’s Quarter Pounder hamburgers.According to the FDA, 104 people were sickened in 14 states in that outbreak. Nearly three dozen were hospitalized, four people, including at least one child, developed severe kidney problems. One person, an older adult from Colorado, died
