Iceberg lettuce supplied to Taco Bell linked to cyclospora outbreak

foodJul 17, 20261215,458

Shredded iceberg lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms and sold at some Taco Bell restaurants has been linked to a multistate cyclosporiasis outbreak, sources told CNN. The CDC reports nearly 7,000 cases confirmed or under investigation since May 1 and at least 141 hospitalizations; confirmed cases are more than six times higher than this time last year. The lettuce-linked cluster is regional and centered in the Midwest, with the CDC identifying at least 400 cases tied to Taco Bell locations in Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky. Michigan has reported more than 4,300 cases during the investigation and has interviewed over 1,000 people; state officials said the sharp increase strongly suggests most illnesses stem from the same outbreak. Taco Bell said it voluntarily removed the potentially impacted lettuce from a supplier in select states, is removing the affected ingredient from its supply chain nationwide indefinitely, and will replace it within 24 hours in select states. Taylor Farms did not respond to CNN’s request for comment. Federal health officials said multiple investigations are underway, and the produce supplier’s national reach makes it unclear which other products or locations may be affected. Cyclosporiasis is caused by a microscopic parasite and can cause watery diarrhea, cramping and bloating that can last for weeks.

Kari Dru

@karidru.bsky.social

Re: cyclospora, Taco Bell having ethics and going "you know what, it's always the fucking lettuce, why don't we just pull that until we know what's going on" resulting in all the outlets going "LETTUCE SOLD AT TACO BELL LINKED TO EXPLOSIVE DIARRHEA" is a fantastic way to discourage ethics in future.

17294h ago

Adam388

Taylor farms , owned by a Trump donor, supplies bagged lettuce to *everywhere*. Taco bell did the right thing proactively, and they are getting all the blame. The blame lies with RFK period. Taco bell being the fall guy is crazy.

Kari Dru277

It's also going to hurt people because they'll think they're in the clear if they don't eat Taco Bell. And that's not true. It's grocery store salad also.

JayIsPainting 🍁72

As a former food industry person, this makes me so mad. They did the right thing.

SeasonalPun66

Meanwhile the people that make “raw cheese” or whatever it is declined to recall their tainted produce and almost nobody seems to have heard that.

Veleda_k33

But if I acknowledge the facts, how will I get in my "Mexican food is scary and dirty" jokes?

Ray Radlein14

Like I said the other day, this is why we still call 1918 the "Spanish Flu"

Quoting this

moby dickgirl42

It's the Spanish flu of cyclospora

Amy Hoy32

this is the inverse mcdonald's coffee scald lady. or just generally, "whoever smelt it, dealt it". taco bell did the right thing. and it wasn't their (direct) fault. unlike that time chipotle's internal practices made people sick.

Glaiza Is Yearning✈️ GenCon 202623

LIKE TACO BELL DID THE RIGHT THING. EVERYONE SHOULD BE APPLAUDING THEM. how dare this universe make me defend taco bell. this is like when professor x and magneto teamed up but i'm MAD ABOUT IT.

Damion Schubert11

Taco Bell PR Manager: "Look, we already have kind of a weird reputation. This is urgent. Let's do everything in our power to convince people that, as far as this cyclospora thing goes, we are the restaurant LEAST LIKELY to give you explosive diarhhea." Everyone: "Haha, Taco Bell gives the poops!"

Bill Kuchman7

Like, do we think each Taco Bell restaurant has its own little garden?

Kevin Riggle6

Part of why the practice of performing ethics includes accepting that doing them even when it’s inconvenient is that, look, it’s always gonna be something like this

crb10793

Beyond the great point here about incentives for businesses (which is why you have objective inspectors Elon!), is there another leafy veggie that is less susceptible to these organisms...like is Kale resistant/immune to them?

Comfort Cripes2

This is REALLY not related but my taco bell also didn't have cinnamon twists yesterday and I'm laughing thinking of those growing on a farm. They did, though, have lettuce. Which I ate and only now realized. Ah well, I've had bowled salads this week too.

Quoting this

Everyone who gets sick should be allowed to sue Kennedy for damages.

Witch Cabell, PhD12

It’s the fucking “Spanish Flu” all over again!

🧿kika🧿5

I stand by my Taco Bell

Saisons4

RFK Jr did a whole Rajneeshee bioterror attack on every salad in America.

Becca's Mullet3

Of course it's owned by a Trump supporter. Of course.

val

@trickycrayon.com

This framing is so disgusting and irresponsible. Yes, Taylor Farms supplies Taco Bell. THEY ALSO SUPPLY TONS OF OTHER RESTAURANTS AND GROCERY STORES. People will take "avoid Taco Bell" as the lesson which is NOT HELPFUL. www.wcvb.com/article/cycl...

3605h ago

Julia Blough92

Taco Bell did the responsible thing and took lettuce of the menu right away. Taylor Farms supplies a zillion places that were still serving lettuce.

hershalan.bsky.social21

@tacobell.bsky.social are the heroes here.

Parchment13

Publix and heb sell taylor farms salads.

Phidippus Audax9

I used to work at a Walmart deli, guess where they got all their fresh veggies . . . that’s right it was Taylor farms

Lauren8

Just SHUT THEM DOWN. 2026...lettuce. 2013. Lettuce. 2024...onions.

Lesley Smith4

I still remember the spinach salmonella scare from a number of years back. The supplier was a local farm that had a ton of health violations and supplied bagged spinach to nearly every grocery and restaurant. They got shut down a year after the scare.

Quoting this

Victorious Bleue377

Taylor Farms also owns and runs Earthbound Organics, which is available in nearly every grocery store across the US

Mike the Mad Biologist and PM of the "Islamic Republic of Japan"231

When people wonder why food safety investigations try to keep information private until the investigation is complete, this is one reason why. Taco Bell did the right thing but it's being penalized for *what its supplier did*. That's not a good incentive to cooperate when future outbreaks occur.

Kendra "Gloom is My Beat" Pierre-Louis127

I just want to add, as someone who has eaten Taco Bell once in the past 2 decades at her uncle's funeral because I was feeling nostalgic. Available evidence suggests it was Taco Bell who identified the source.

Kathryn Brightbill ✒️28

Taco Bell are the only ones who were proactive, ffs! But of course the people who never eat a vegetable in their life, and therefore get digestive upset from Taco Bell because of the fiber, are going to blame Taco Bell instead of Taylor Farms.

Living in a neoliberal dystopian hellscape9

Food production in the US is so monopolized and concentrated that everything basically comes from the same handful of corporations. The idea that this is isolated to Taco Bell is completely ridiculous.

Marcus5

Really, though, if people take away from this reporting that right now they should avoid Taco Bell, and they decide instead to pick up a salad kit at the grocery store to eat healthy, they’re likely putting themselves in more danger of eating cyclospora than if they got Taco Bell

Anthony B,4

Redemption arc for Liz Truss?

Basil Da Chefcario ΘΔ 🍳4

I feel like this whole thing is just a way to blame Taco Bell instead of the government for cutting money from food safety programs, just deflecting blame away from the ACTUAL cause.

arcadus ☭ and 8,549,176,320 others3

it’s just racism, plain and simple

Mr. Hands is making SuccuDeck 😈🃏2

"Spanish flu" most likely originated in the US, but Spain was one of few countries that didn't censor its news outlets during World War One

Hoodlum 🇺🇸

@nothoodlum.bsky.social

Run for the bathroom. Shredded iceberg lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms to Taco Bell restaurants has been linked to a parasitic outbreak that has infected thousands of people in five states. www.wsj.com/articles/hea...

3085h ago

Bea31

taylor farms is a $7b agribiz that spreads from wa to ca to fl. they also own earthbound farms and eat smart brands. big ag is notorious for not providing proper sanitation facilities in the fields. it also gave $139.5m to repubs in 2024. tf hosts high $ fundraisers for them.

Rudy 🇨🇦25

It’s all shits and giggles until someone giggles and shits.

Gail Wadsworth11

Taylor Farms is the world's largest lettuce producer. And one of the worst employers in the US. Workers there are consistently abused. It's clear that TF cares about nothing but profit.

Tara ❌️👑11

Thankful my broke ass can't afford to eat out. Winning 🤷‍♀️ lol

Spaaaace Ghoooost9

Someone called this outbreak MAHA Blast, and I have no notes.

Nolan Zugernat8

“Taylor Farms supplies grocery stores and restaurants across the country, although it’s unclear exactly how many of its products and which locations may be affected.” Their salad kits are sold at Walmart and many other grocery stores.

Quoting this

Hoyt3

Who knew that the headline “Taco Bell causes a nationwide epidemic of explosive diarrhea” would be the final nail in the irony coffin.

WhinterQueen

@whinterqueen.bsky.social

i’ve been in restaurant and farm management and knew enough to know that “taco bell lettuce” meant some big producer’s lettuce. so when ppl were also saying the grocery store deli and mcdonald’s & other big chains i knew it had to be taylor farms. but most ppl wouldn’t, they have no reason to know

2604h ago

Seth Cotlar

@sethcotlar.bsky.social

This administration, supposedly representing the “real” salt of the earth Americans, is filled with people like this who have no idea how Americans actually live. For context, each Taco Bell outlet serves about 900 people PER DAY and there are over 300 Taco Bells in Michigan.

Katie Miller *
@KatieMiller
X.com
4,300 people ate at Taco Bell just in Michigan?
This summer's outbreak of cyclosporiasis has been largely concentrated in southeastern Michigan, where more than 4,300 cases have been reported and at least 100 people have been hospitalized as of Thursday.
฿ philip lewis • @Phil_Lewis_ • 7h
Investigators have linked shredded iceberg lettuce supplied to Taco Bell restaurants by Taylor Farms as a potential source of contamination in the cyclosporiasis outbreak, according to a report washingtonpost.com/health/2026/07...
3:39 PM • 7/16/26 • 283K Views

207Just now

Matt Thompson23

being off by several orders of magnitude is what MAGA is all about, tbh

gamera obscura13

“Do people actually eat The Taco Ball? How quaint! I had no idea, as I dine exclusively on gold-crusted veal heads.”

Miranda Miller (fastest Mario)8

I want to ask Katie how many people live in Michigan because I don’t believe that she would get it right within several orders of magnitude

tbd6

Even then Taco Bell is just one outlet for the vector. Taylor Farms supplies more than just them. . .

Jason Darr6

Tell me you've never worked in fast food without telling me you've never worked in fast food. (Katie, not Seth)

Leigh 🚫👑🇺🇸🌏🇺🇦🐶🐱🇨🇦🇲🇽 🦋3

The Millers are both stark raving mad.

Quoting this

geoffrey51

gotta be real i think the balance on this one leans less toward out of touch and more toward very stupid

Dr ShinyGoth3

Also they don't understand math. 4,300 Michigan residents ate at Taco Bell out of 10,130,000.

Chatham Harrison dba TRUMP DELENDUS EST2

Keep this kind of innumeracy in mind when you hear them make "earth-shaking" claims of 14000 noncitizen voters in Pennsylvania

Mar Hicks

@histoftech.bsky.social

This lettuce is literally everywhere and usually it’s in contexts where no one knows/discloses it. Taco Bell is one of the only places doing the right, proactive thing here and misleading headlines are flipping things around making seem like they’re a site of danger instead.

164Just now

Mar Hicks37

Reminds me of how people ask “are you sick??” when they see someone wearing a respirator instead of understanding that person (contagious or not) is actually protecting everyone.

ShiftKicker1

Seems to me that Taco Bell is one of the safer places to eat if they aren't using Taylor Farms as a supplier any longer.

Quoting this

Hagen Blix2

Speaking of a tragedy of the "individually rational behavior under capitalism is anti-social and overall irrational"-commons..

Alex Brown 🇵🇸 (they/them)

@bookjockeyalex.bsky.social

Lotta folks not reading the rest of this thread. Taylor Farms has their HQ in downtown Salinas, but they aren't harvesting locally and shipping to MI. Their produce comes from all over. www.taylorfarms.com/our-story/

Taylor Farms is now the leading global producer of salads and healthy fresh foods, with production facilities across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Western Europe.

1466h ago

Alex Brown 🇵🇸 (they/them)18

According to their Wikipedia, there have been numerous outbreaks connected to Taylor Farma over the years, including thr 2024 e coli outbreak in McDonald's. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taylor_...

rule4080.bsky.social2

In fairness Taylor Farms is a division of Typhoid Mary Wholesalers, Inc.

kylam.bsky.social1

They also forced workers to attend pro Cheeto rallies, treat them like crap, anti-union, need more be said?!

Dr. Damien P. Williams has to go the way his blood beats

@wolven.blacksky.app

Taylor Farms supplies (probably more likely "supplied," at this point, but w/e) a LOT of stores and restaurants which repackaged them under their own brand names. It's a very common practice. And it should probably fucking stop.

1445h ago

@dwilliamesq.bsky.social

Right. Taylor Farms supplies McDonalds, Wendy’s, Starbucks, Chipotle, Subway, Burger King, Walmart, Costco, Trader Joe’s, Aldi and so on. Any of them could have contaminated lettuce. Just because taco bell got unlucky and was traced first doesn’t mean all the headlines should refer to them by name.

1282h ago

pamadams.bsky.social5

As could your grocery store chopped salad.

Sarah2

And it takes 2 weeks to cook in the GI tract, not a day or two

newandabitalarming.bsky.social2

Reminds me of when all those people died of the beef at Jack in the Box.

Mark Sumner 🌒

@devilstower.bsky.social

Bruce Taylor, CEO of Taylor Farms which is suspected to be connected to the cyclosporine outbreak, is a big Republican donor with at least 14 recent donations >$10K across multiple states. …

Information on Bruce Taylor from Open Secrets

785h ago

Mark Sumner 🌒16

That’s cyclospora outbreak. Please stop helping me, spell correct. Taylor has been involved in multiple food safety events going back to at least 2011. In 2024, they were connected with an E. coli outbreak spread on onions sold to McDonald’s. …

Deborah2

Ooooh - they also supply KFC... Better pony up, Bruce. The boss is gonna need a lot more zeroes added.

Lexi "Pro-Democracy" 💙2

I found this too. bsky.app/profile/lexi...

Clara McK1

Taylor Farms hosted Ron DeSantis when he was going for the Presidential nomination

Lauren1

Mark, what kind of complaints have there been about how they treat the actual farmers, los and las migras doing the work?

Jenn M-S1

IIRC this is not Taylor Farms's first go-around with problems like this . . .

George Pearkes

@peark.es

WaPo: CDC identifies a potential source for the cyclosporiasis wave (Taco Bell supplier Taylor Farms)

Lettuce Supplier Is Potential Source of Cyclosporiasis Outbreak, Investigators Say
Summary by Bloomberg AI
Investigators have linked shredded iceberg lettuce supplied to Taco Bell restaurants by Taylor Farms as a potential source of contamination in the outbreak of a parasitic illness.
The outbreak of cyclosporiasis has been largely concentrated in southeastern Michigan, where more than 4,300 cases have been reported and at least 100 people have been hospitalized.
Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have identified a likely link among cyclosporiasis cases in four states — Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky — marking the agency's clearest public indication yet that many of the illnesses are connected to a common source.
By Lena H. Sun and Rachel Roubein
(Washington Post) -- Investigators have linked shredded iceberg lettuce supplied to Taco Bell restaurants by Taylor Farms as a potential source of contamination in the outbreak of a parasitic illness that has sickened thousands in United States, according to two individuals familiar with the investigation.
The two spoke on the condition of anonymity to share details of the ongoing investigation.
This summer's outbreak of cyclosporiasis has been largely concentrated in southeastern Michigan, where more than 4,300 cases have been reported and at least 100 people have been hospitalized as of Thursday.
Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this week that they have identified a likely link among cyclosporiasis cases in four states — Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky — marking the agency's clearest public indication yet that many of the illnesses are connected to a common source. A top official from the Food and Drug Administration said earlier this week that its investigation involves multiple produce items, including lettuce.
"The signal we have gotten is that there is a very high percentage of people who got sick

898h ago

Helene Meisler28

Taylor is a big distributor of bagged lettuce to supermarkets too

Alex Edwards6

The smart money has been on Taylor Farms from the beginning

Andy 🌴📈🏃🚵 🧘‍♂️2

This may hurt them a lot similar to what Chipotle went through. People will go back but it takes awhile

Quoting this

Constantine24

Taco Bell all but yelled this from the rooftops a few days ago, but you go guys!

Tina's Driving Lesson9

To my white and Family-Guy-card-spectrum moots: All your Black friends already told you it was Taylor Farms, right?

[sad beep] acerbic otter4

TAYLOR FARMS ARE THE ONES WHO DEALT THE CYCLOSPORA, APPARENTLY

💋SassyAss💋Sister🔥🔱ValkyrieQueen🔱❤️‍🔥🥷Resistance Fighter👊 📎

@sassysister27.bsky.social

The culprits for this epidemic turn out to be Taylor Farms and surprise, surprise Taco Bell… www.cnn.com/2026/07/16/h...

674h ago

blueginger99.bsky.social7

There was a department that monitored cyclospora for decades but it was gutted by the GOP. Same thing with Screw Worm, etc.

MegAwake4

It's their supplier, not Taco Bell. They don't grow their own produce.

Strong Jersey איתן4

If you read to the end of the article it's pretty clear that Taco Bell is just one of many possible places that got the tainted lettuce. This is on Taylor Farms.

Pat🐓🍅3

So Taco Bell sells lettuce?

Bob2

This is what happens when Taco Bell goes rogue and joined the RepubliCON Klan, I hope all Dems will stop going there, if you don’t not only are you contributing to magat Nazis but you’ll have a disgusting uncomfortable after effects called Trumparrhea

Kats Peterson2

Taco Bell doesn't *sell* the lettuce itself. It *purchased* the lettuce it happens to use from Taylor Farms. This is on the farm.

Quoting this

Socks the Plushy ✡️23

Listen, Taco Bell is a big company with shitty practices but it's pretty misleading to connect this specifically to Taco Bell 1. Taco Bell has pulled the lettuce voluntarily already 2. Taylor Farms provides lettuce to a LOT of places 3. This isn't the first time Taylor Farms has been implicated

#VeryAsian Eric2

I'm surprised they were able to narrow the source of explosive diarrhea to Taco Bell's lettuce... 😝

KathleenB🌈💙💙💙🐸🐸🇺🇦2

It seems like it's always Taylor Farms

Kendra "Gloom is My Beat" Pierre-Louis

@kendrawrites.com

I do not want to give Yum Foods any flowers but it seems ANECDOTALLY that they were the ones who figured out it was Taylor Farms (if the reporting holds up). They removed produce from likely affected stores.

1123h ago

Kacey325

@kacey325.bsky.social

It's not just Taco Bell. Taylor Farms supplies Ralphs, Gelson's, Vallarta, Bristol Farms, McDonald's, Chipotle, Subway, Burger King, the grocery stores in the screenshot, and more. This isn't their first food safety issue. They were the cause of the recent major E. Coli outbreak. They are unsafe.

screenshot of grocery stores that taylor foods supplies, including sprouts, whole foods, vons, pavillions, walmart, food4less, albertsons, target, and amazon fresh.

435h ago

eilrach.bsky.social6

They also own the Earthbound Farms brand.

⬆️UpstateCentrist 🥀🏳️‍🌈🐝💙3

One of the crazy takeaways I had after reading Fast Food Nation was that a lot of times the conglomerates like McDonald’s for example, had safer than usual food because the threat of losing the business of McDonald’s could bankrupt a company. I guess that’s fallen by the wayside.

Karmageddon2

Walmart. Their bagged salads and ready-to-eat salads are sold at Walmart.

3 sources

cnn.comIceberg lettuce sold at Taco Bell linked to cyclospora outbreak | CNN usatoday.comTaco Bell holds the lettuce in some states, citing cyclospora risk theguardian.comCyclosporiasis: officials looking at Taco Bell lettuce supplier as potential source of outbreak

Iceberg lettuce supplied to Taco Bell linked to cyclospora outbreakfood

Iceberg lettuce supplied to Taco Bell linked to cyclospora outbreak

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