Taylor Farms pulls iceberg lettuce from the US market after cyclosporiasis outbreak

Key Points:

• Taylor Farms is voluntarily removing all iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico from the U.S. market amid a Cyclospora outbreak linked to shredded lettuce produced at a facility in Guanajuato, Mexico.
• Taco Bell has stopped using the affected lettuce ingredient nationwide and plans to replace it within 24 hours in select states, following reports of Cyclospora infections linked to their shredded iceberg lettuce in five states.
• The Cyclospora parasite causes symptoms such as watery diarrhea, vomiting, body aches, and flu-like symptoms, with Michigan reporting over 5,000 cases and 102 hospitalizations.
• The FDA traceback points to a specific independent farm responsible for less than 1% of U.S. iceberg lettuce supply as the potential source, but Taylor Farms has removed all iceberg lettuce from the region indefinitely.
• Investigations are ongoing, with authorities warning that additional brands or products may be implicated, while recent federal funding cuts and delayed FDA traceability regulations have hampered outbreak tracing efforts.