Cyclosporiasis: officials looking at Taco Bell lettuce supplier as potential source of outbreak

Amid an ongoing outbreak of cyclosporiasis, federal health officials are reportedly looking at iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms that was supplied to Taco Bell as a possible source.

On Thursday afternoon, the Washington Post, CNN and other media outlets reported that the lettuce supplier had been linked to the outbreak, citing unnamed sources “familiar with the investigation”.

“Based on ongoing conversations with public health officials, and out of an abundance of caution, Taco Bell has taken immediate action to voluntarily remove potentially impacted lettuce from a supplier in select states,” a Taco Bell spokesperson said in a statement. “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.”

“Taco Bell has taken precautionary action, and we encourage all relevant restaurants, retailers, and foodservice operators to do the same,” the statement continued, noting “no official advisory has been issued”.

The parasitic illness, which causes watery, explosive diarrhea, has affected thousands of people across the US. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported earlier this week that it had identified 1,645 lab-confirmed cases of the parasite and that 145 people had been hospitalized with the illness. A backlog of 5,100 cases requires more analysis, the CDC said.

The agency said this week that while it was continuing to try to hunt down the source of the illness, it expected the outbreak would continue through August. Officials have warned the number of actual infections is higher than the numbers show, the Guardian reported earlier this week.

“The true number of infections is almost certainly higher, because many people with mild illness recover,” Gwen Biggerstaff, the deputy director of the CDC’s division of foodborne, waterborne and environmental diseases, said on Tuesday. “We’re seeing an unusually high number of cyclosporiasis cases this summer.”

Officials have reported that cases in Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky are linked, and authorities in Michigan said on Monday that lettuce was a “potential source” of the outbreak. The Washington Post reported earlier this week that federal and state officials were looking at whether lettuce at Taco Bell locations in Michigan was connected to the outbreak.

The Trump administration has faced criticism during the surge in illnesses for its cuts to federal food safety programs, as well as its decision to limit the scope of a CDC program that had monitored trends in foodborne illness.

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said the cuts at the CDC and FDA have not affected the federal government’s response to the outbreak.

“We’ve talked to the CDC and FDA specifically about that, and not at all,” she told reporters on Thursday. “They have the resources they need to make sure that Americans are fully informed and protected from this illness during this time.”

Taylor Farms did not immediately respond to inquiries.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed