Taylor Farms voluntarily pulls iceberg lettuce linked to nationwide cyclosporiasis outbreak

U.S. health officials said they are investigating an additional outbreak of cyclospora, but do not know its source. Plus, Taylor Farms has reportedly shut down the plant where lettuce is suspected to have started the initial outbreak that has sickened thousands in at least 41 states. Carter Evans reports.

Taylor Farms must be very sorry to have ever claimed that the Food and Drug Administration apologized to them.The pro-Trump produce supplier deleted all mentions on social media of the aforementioned penitence following a false positive by the FDA that incorrectly identified some of Taylor Farms’ products as a source of the cyclospora outbreak that has caused explosive diarrhea across the country.In statements since scrubbed from social platforms, the vegetable company said Monday that the FDA had “apologized” for the error. That set off the federal government, which initiated a typhoon of P.R. damage control that has since been described by agriculture journalists as a “public health communications nightmare.”On Monday, the FDA denied that it had offered the company any such apology. And in its own since-deleted post, the Department of Health and Human Services asserted that Taylor Farms’ statement “DOES NOT change the basis for FDA’s ongoing outbreak investigation or the overwhelming epidemiological data supporting the current voluntary recall by Taylor Farms.”“Epidemiological evidence and traceback analysis provide strong, actionable public health evidence,” HHS shared Tuesday afternoon, responding to a CNN report that Mexico denied its regional cases had anything to do with the current outbreak in the U.S. “By looking at the supply chain—from point of sale to distributors, processors, and growers—the data gathered from the 5-state outbreak converged on shredded iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms locations in Mexico.”Taylor Farms is one of the largest fresh-produce suppliers in the country, providing products to Walmart, Sam’s Club, Kroger, SYSCO, Aldi, Target, and Dollar General. It also sells food for private-label brands, such as Whole Foods’ “365” line, and offers assembly-line products for a slew of fast-food chains, including McDonald’s, KFC, Pizza Hut, Subway, and more.Taylor Farms said that it had recalled all of the shredded iceberg lettuce that was grown and processed in central Mexico out of an “abundance of caution.”“While the FDA traceback is indicating a specific independent farm, which represents less than 1% of the U.S.’s iceberg lettuce supply, as the potential source of the outbreak, we have removed all iceberg lettuce from the region indefinitely,” the company said Friday in a statement. Yet somehow, sending Americans rushing to the lavatory isn’t the only scandal plaguing Taylor Farms. The supplier’s parent company, Taylor Fresh Foods Inc., reportedly donated $1 million to Make America Great Again Inc.—a super PAC affiliated with the president—in March 2025.Company executives also met with White House officials and FDA representatives last week, just before Taylor Farms issued a voluntary recall of its Central Mexico lettuce supply, reported the Daily Beast Tuesday.Since the beginning of May, the CDC has confirmed 1,645 cases of cyclosporiasis and is investigating 5,100 more, though the agency noted that most cases have likely gone unreported. Still, both totals are substantially higher than normal: This time last year, just 249 cases had been reported. So far, 141 cases have resulted in hospitalization, and no one has died from the disease.

Taylor Farms said ‘out of an abundance of caution,” it has completed a voluntary recall of iceberg lettuce from central Mexico.

Taylor Farms Announces Recall Of Lettuce Shipped To 27 States Over Cyclospora Risk Authored by Troy Myers via The Epoch Times, U.S. lettuce supplier Taylor Farms expanded on July 17 its voluntary recall of iceberg lettuce from central Mexico due to concerns over its link to a cyclospora outbreak affecting Americans across the country. Lettuce products that were possibly contaminated with the diarrhea-causing parasite were sent to 27 states, according to the company. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said July 18 the outbreak was linked to iceberg lettuce across five states and more than 1,000 people in the United States have been sickened by it. “Consumers who have purchased the recalled iceberg lettuce should discard it immediately and not consume it,” California-based Taylor Farms said in a statement. “Full refunds are also available at the location of purchase.” States that were sent potentially contaminated lettuce products include Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin. The company added that it is actively removing affected products and ceased sourcing lettuce from the implicated lot in central Mexico. Taylor Farms reiterated that it is continuing to cooperate with the Food and Drug Administration, the CDC, and other authorities. Taylor Farms released a full list of its potentially affected products, including various shredded lettuce and salad mixes, accompanied with their lot codes and use-by dates. According to an earlier statement July 17, the company said it was voluntarily removing from U.S. markets all iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico. That decision was based on information the FDA provided to Taylor Farms regarding its products, the statement said. “As a family owned and operated company, we are deeply concerned for those who became ill, their families, and the many Americans whose trust in the safety of their fresh produce has been shaken,” Taylor Farms said. “That trust is something we’ve worked for decades to earn, and we are committed to doing everything in our power to restore that confidence.” U.S. health officials earlier this week announced it had traced “a single supplier of iceberg lettuce from Mexico used by Taco Bell locations where sick people ate before becoming ill.” The popular fast-food chain addressed the issue in a statement on X, writing that it had removed all Taylor Farm products from its locations. “We want you to hear it from us,” the company said. “So go ahead and enjoy your Taco Bell today.” U.S. food distributor Sysco had also pulled all its Taylor Farms iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico. Cyclosporiasis is caused by the microscopic parasite cyclospora that stems from produce and water contaminated with human feces. As of the latest update available from the CDC, the outbreak has resulted in 1,644 cases and 94 hospitalizations. The agency noted that the true number of cases could be much higher, as many people are able to recover without medical care and are not tested for cyclospora. Tyler Durden Sun, 07/19/2026 - 12:50

Taylor Farms, a California-based fruit and vegetable producer, on Saturday announced that it is recalling its shredded iceberg lettuce after a CDC and FDA investigation linked the product to a cyclosporiasis outbreak that has sickened thousands across the country.

Taylor Farms has expanded a voluntary recall of iceberg lettuce that was distributed to 27 states after federal health officials linked the lettuce from its supplier in central Mexico to the spread of an “explosive diarrhea” parasite. Earlier this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) linked shredded iceberg lettuce from a single...