Taylor Fresh Foods said Friday it was voluntarily removing all iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico from the US market, as federal health officials linked the ongoing cyclospora outbreak to shredded lettuce served at Taco Bell restaurants in five states.

FDA Alert and Taylor Farms Response

The FDA issued a direct advisory Friday warning consumers: “Do not eat shredded iceberg lettuce from Mexico served at Taco Bell locations in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia.” Hours later, Taylor Fresh Foods announced its withdrawal of all iceberg lettuce from the region.

“While the FDA traceback is indicating a specific independent farm, which represents less than 1% of the US’s iceberg lettuce supply, as the potential source of the outbreak, we have removed all iceberg lettuce from the region indefinitely,” the company said, adding that no other Taylor Fresh Foods products are affected.

The Taylor Farms iceberg lettuce recall cyclospora outbreak link was first reported by the Washington Post. Taco Bell had already announced Thursday it was pulling the suspected lettuce from its supply chain nationwide “indefinitely,” though the company did not name Taylor Farms by name.

The CDC said shredded lettuce sold in grocery stores or served in other restaurants is not affected by the current advisory.

Outbreak Scale Continues to Grow

Nationwide, nearly 7,000 people may have been sickened by cyclospora, a microscopic parasite that causes weeks of severe watery diarrhea. As of Friday, the CDC had confirmed 1,644 cases and was investigating more than 5,100 others across 34 states. No deaths have been reported.

Michigan remains the hardest-hit state, with 5,002 cases as of Friday and 102 hospitalizations. Michigan health officials had flagged lettuce and salad greens as a likely source based on more than 2,025 interviews with confirmed patients. However, not all patients in Michigan reported eating at Taco Bell. “Many did not report eating lettuce at a restaurant chain or other food establishment,” the state’s Health Department said. “However, lettuce still appeared frequently in food questionnaires, including those without restaurant or fast-food exposure.”

Officials note the investigation has been complicated by the cyclospora parasite’s incubation period of up to two weeks, making it difficult to trace exposures in a timely way.

Not Taylor Farms’ First Outbreak

This is not the first time Taylor Farms has been connected to a cyclospora outbreak. In 2013, 631 people across 25 states were sickened by a salad mix linked to the company, with many illnesses concentrated in Iowa and Nebraska among people who had eaten at Olive Garden and Red Lobster. That outbreak was traced to a Taylor Farms processing facility in Mexico.

Taylor Farms was also identified by the FDA as the source of a 2024 E. coli outbreak linked to slivered onions on McDonald’s Quarter Pounder hamburgers. That outbreak sickened 104 people across 14 states, hospitalized nearly three dozen, caused severe kidney complications in at least four patients including a child, and killed one older adult in Colorado.

Author: Staff Writer | Edited for WTFwire.com | SOURCE: NBC News