Recall issued in Cyclosporiasis outbreak

Shredded iceberg lettuce provided by Taylor Farms de Mexico sold mostly to food service customers like restaurants has been identified as a source of the current Cyclosporiasis outbreak. Photo credit: ppacificvancouver, wikimedia commons/CC BY 2.0.

by Sara Swanson

As of Thursday, July 16, Washtenaw County had 500 reported cases of Cyclosporiasis with 25 hospitalizations. Washtenaw is one of the more heavily hit counties in the most heavily hit state. On Friday, the FDA announced a recall associated with the outbreak. 

The FDA’s traceback investigation identified Taylor Farms de Mexico as providing the shredded iceberg lettuce used by Taco Bell locations where some of the sick people ate before becoming ill. Later that day, Taylor Farms de Mexico of Guanajuato, Mexico, the lettuce supplier for those locations, announced they are voluntarily removing all iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico from the U.S. market. 

Most of the lettuce was sold for use in the food service industry to be used in restaurants, cafeterias, etc., in many states including Michigan. However, some of the lettuce was used in the Marketside-branded products available at Walmart although Taylor Farms reports that Michigan Walmarts did not receive the recalled bagged salads.

The FDA recommends consumers, restaurants, and retailers who purchased or received recalled iceberg lettuce distributed by Taylor Fresh Foods should discard it immediately and not consume it. Full refunds are also available at the location of purchase. They also recommend asking restaurants the source of their lettuce in order to avoid eating recalled lettuce. And if you purchased or received recalled iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms de Mexico, carefully clean and sanitize any surfaces or containers that it touched.

by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and a founder of the Manchester Mirror.