{"id":2744,"date":"2026-07-17T18:03:31","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T18:03:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=2744"},"modified":"2026-07-17T18:03:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T18:03:31","slug":"lettuce-at-taco-bell-in-5-states-confirmed-as-a-source-of-diarrhea-causing-parasite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=2744","title":{"rendered":"Lettuce at Taco Bell in 5 states confirmed as a source of diarrhea-causing parasite"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Getting your Trinity Audio player ready…<\/strong><\/div>\n
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By BILL BARROW<\/strong><\/p>\n

ATLANTA (AP) \u2014 Federal health officials have identified lettuce from Mexico served at Taco Bell locations across five U.S. states as a source of\u00a0the widespread outbreak\u00a0of diarrhea-causing parasite cyclospora.<\/p>\n

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention late Thursday\u00a0warned consumers not to eat\u00a0shredded iceberg lettuce from Taco Bell restaurants in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia. A record number of cyclospora cases have been reported in more than 30 states, and experts have said not every recent U.S. illness might be caused by a single source.<\/p>\n

A Food and Drug Administration investigation identified a single supplier of the lettuce. The federal warnings to consumers did not identify the company, but a federal official who was briefed on the investigation and not authorized to discuss it told The Associated Press it was Taylor Farms of Salinas, California.<\/p>\n

Taylor Farms, which has been tied to foodborne outbreaks in the past, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

\u201cFDA is working with the supplier of iceberg lettuce to determine if potentially contaminated shredded iceberg lettuce remains on the market,\u201d including in other states, the CDC said. \u201cTaco Bell has committed to stop using any lettuce from the supplier identified by FDA\u2019s traceback investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement, federal health officials stressed that other \u201cbrands, restaurants, retailers, or distribution channels\u201d could be identified as the investigation continues.<\/p>\n

Taco Bell says it will use a different supplier<\/h4>\n

CDC, FDA and public health officials in several states have been\u00a0investigating a multistate outbreak\u00a0of cyclospora infections.<\/p>\n

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The illness is not usually life threatening and is typically treated with antibiotics.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, ahead of the federal government\u2019s confirmation, Taco Bell issued a statement saying that it had taken \u201cimmediate action to voluntarily remove potentially impacted lettuce from a supplier in select states. The affected ingredient from our supplier is being indefinitely removed from our supply chain nationwide and will be replaced within 24 hours in select states.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cyclospora cases have been rising for years<\/h4>\n

Cyclospora is a microscopic, spherical parasite that commonly causes watery diarrhea \u201cwith frequent and sometimes explosive bowel movements,\u201d according to the CDC.\u00a0Outbreaks tend to occur\u00a0most often in the late spring and summer.<\/p>\n

The heat-loving parasite infects the bowels and spreads through feces. In the past, people have been infected by consuming\u00a0fruits or vegetables\u00a0that were exposed to feces-contaminated irrigation water.<\/p>\n

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\n<\/div>\n

The illness, called cyclosporiasis, is less common than foodborne illnesses caused by other germs, including salmonella and E. coli. Many cases are never linked to a specific food or other source and, for years, few U.S. cyclospora outbreaks were reported. But the number started rising about a decade ago, with a particularly notable spike in 2018 and 2019.<\/p>\n

Previously, 2019 saw the most reported U.S. cyclosporiasis cases, with about 4,700. The current surge has far surpassed that. Michigan \u2014 the apparent epicenter of the current outbreak \u2014 is reporting more than 5,000 cases, and more than 2,000 additional probable and suspected cases have been reported in other states.<\/p>\n

No deaths have been reported. But Michigan officials say more than 100 people in that state have been hospitalized, and federal health officials say dozens more have been hospitalized in other states.<\/p>\n

Experts attribute the increasing trend in cases to climate change and better detection. They also say it\u2019s likely that cyclospora cases historically were underreported, for several reasons.<\/p>\n

Some common tests used to check for food poisoning have not been geared to detect cyclospora. Technicians aren\u2019t able to grow the parasite in labs, making it hard to draw evidence from contaminated produce. And it can be hard to figure out what food sick people had in common because sometimes it\u2019s a single ingredient that might be common in multiple recipes \u2014 like basil or cilantro.<\/p>\n

Taco Bell and Taylor Farms have been tied to past outbreaks<\/h4>\n

The FDA\u2019s traceback investigation identified a single supplier of iceberg lettuce from Mexico used by the Taco Bell locations where people who got sick ate, federal officials said.<\/p>\n

The Mexican food chain is among the\u00a0restaurants linked\u00a0to foodborne illness outbreaks in the past.<\/p>\n

Taylor Farms also was tied to a\u00a02013 cyclosporiasis outbreak<\/em>\u00a0linked to salad mix and a\u00a02024 E. coli outbreak\u00a0tied to onions served at McDonald\u2019s.<\/em><\/p>\n

Stobbe reported from New York.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute\u2019s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Officials identified lettuce served by Taco Bell in five U.S. states as a source of the outbreak of diarrhea-causing parasite cyclospora.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2743,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-news","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nLettuce at Taco Bell in 5 states confirmed as a source of diarrhea-causing parasite - Colorado Springs Moverss<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=2744\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lettuce at Taco Bell in 5 states confirmed as a source of diarrhea-causing parasite - 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