Taylor Farms Recalls Lettuce Due to Cyclospora Risk

Taylor Farms announced an expanded voluntary recall of its iceberg lettuce products, which were sourced from central Mexico, due to a potential connection to a multistate outbreak of cyclospora infections. The company stated that products potentially contaminated with the parasite, which causes intestinal illness, were distributed to 27 states, including Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and New Jersey. Taylor Farms has ceased sourcing lettuce from the implicated lot in central Mexico and is actively removing the affected products from distribution channels.

This recall follows an identification by U.S. health officials earlier this week of lettuce from a Mexican supplier as a source of cyclospora contamination. This contamination was linked to food served at Taco Bell restaurants in five Midwestern states. The Taylor Farms recall encompasses 25 shredded lettuce and salad mix products sold under eight different brand codes, with some products shipped as recently as Thursday and bearing "best by" dates up to August 3. Sysco, a major food distributor, has suspended all distribution of Taylor Farms iceberg lettuce sourced from Mexico and has directed its customers to discard these products.

Cyclospora is a microscopic parasite transmitted through food contaminated by human feces, often via irrigation or washing with contaminated water. Ingesting the parasite leads to intestinal illness characterized by frequent bowel movements. As of this year, the CDC reports at least 1,645 illnesses and 141 hospitalizations in the U.S. linked to cyclospora, with over 5,000 additional potential cases under investigation. This figure represents a significant increase compared to the 249 cases reported by the same time last year.