Overview
- Federal officials said the FDA traceback identified Taylor Farms de Mexico as the supplier of shredded iceberg lettuce tied to illnesses at select Taco Bell restaurants, a finding confirmed Friday.
- Taylor Farms voluntarily suspended distribution of iceberg lettuce from central Mexico and issued a recall for products shipped to 27 states; consumers are urged to discard recalled items or return them for a refund.
- Taco Bell removed the implicated lettuce from its supply chain and major distributors such as Sysco and some retailers halted or pulled affected products while investigators test samples.
- The outbreak is large and unevenly reported: the CDC lists about 1,645 confirmed cases across 34 states but Michigan reports more than 5,000 confirmed illnesses, reflecting testing delays and undercounting.
- Cyclospora is a parasite that causes prolonged watery diarrhea, needs specific stool testing and a 10‑day antibiotic course for treatment, and its environmental lifecycle and limited lab tools make source tracing and linkage difficult.