CA Produce Recalled In Nationwide Parasite Outbreak

A recall on a popular brand of lettuce from a California farm was issued Friday due to the outbreak of illness caused by the parasitic illness cyclosporiasis. It comes the same week as investigators found a potential link to Taco Bell and thousands of illnesses reported in the Midwest.

Taylor Fresh Foods is voluntarily removing all of its iceberg lettuce from the United States and Mexico.

The FDA said that customers should also avoid eating any shredded lettuce from Taco Bell locations in five states: Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and West Virginia.

"Additional states may be added to this advisory as more information becomes available," the FDA said in a statement Friday. "Taco Bell is working to stop use of all lettuce implicated by this investigation."

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They added that not all Taco Bell locations in the impacted states received the product from Taylor Farms, but the warning applies to all locations.

In California, 41 provisional cases of cyclosporiasis have been reported to the California Department of Public Health. They are not believed to linked to the current nationwide outbreak.

The California-based chain Taco Bell has 900 locations spread across the Golden State. The California cases largely predate the current outbreak and have not been publicly linked to Taco Bell.

A number of Taco Bell locations have posted signs announcing they are "currently unable to sell Lettuce, Cilantro Onion, Pico de Gallo, and Guacamole due to a nationwide recall," according to Detroit-area news radio outlet WWJ.

Taco Bell told the Post it would keep monitoring the situation and follow authorities' guidance.

"While authorities continue their broader review, Taco Bell has voluntarily and temporarily removed limited ingredients at select restaurants as a precautionary measure.”

While the CDC has only confirmed 1,645 cases domestically, along with hundreds of other cases acquired abroad, state health departments have confirmed more than 7,000 cases since May 1 of this year, mainly in the Midwest.

Taylor Farms, the Salinas-based manufacturer that supplied the lettuce, describes itself as one of the leading global products of salads and healthy fresh foods, according to its website.

The company has production facilities across the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Western Europe.

In 2024, Taylor Farms made headlines as a potential source of an E. coli outbreak found in slivered onions sold at McDonald's restaurants across the country.