{"id":697436,"date":"2026-07-17T22:55:23","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T22:55:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/697436\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T22:55:23","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T22:55:23","slug":"taco-bell-removing-lettuce-from-many-restaurants-after-it-was-linked-to-explosive-diarrhea-parasite-outbreak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/697436\/","title":{"rendered":"Taco Bell removing lettuce from many restaurants after it was linked to \u2018explosive diarrhea\u2019 parasite outbreak"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Taco Bell announced<\/a> Thursday it would remove lettuce from some of its stores after the Food and Drug Administration identified shredded iceberg lettuce <\/a>as the potential source of the cyclosporiasis outbreak<\/a> that causes episodes of explosive diarrhea<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cBased 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,\u201d Taco Bell said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The fast-food chain said its decision to remove the lettuce \u201cindefinitely\u201d was voluntary and that no official advisory has been issued. <\/p>\n

Taylor Farms, which supplies the shredded lettuce, was linked to the potential outbreak, two people familiar with the investigation told the Washington Post<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe affected ingredient from our supplier is being indefinitely removed from our supply chain nationwide and will be replaced within 24 hours in select states,\u201d a spokesperson for the Mexican fast-food chain said. <\/p>\n

\"TacoTaco Bell said its was ‘voluntarily\u2019 removing a supplier from its chain after its shredded iceberg lettuce was identified as the potential source of the parasite outbreak (AP)<\/p>\n

Taylor Farms describes itself as the leading global producer of salads and \u201chealthy fresh foods\u201d with facilities across the U.S. and other countries. <\/p>\n

The Independent has reached out to Taylor Farms for comment. <\/p>\n

There have been nearly 7,000 cases of cyclosporiasis<\/a> since the start of May, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tracking 1,645 confirmed reports and more than 5,100 cases that require further analysis. <\/p>\n

As of Monday, cases have been reported in 34 states, with Michigan and New York being hit the hardest.<\/p>\n

Cyclosporiasis is an intestinal illness caused by a parasite from food or water contaminated with feces. <\/p>\n

\"TaylorTaylor Farms, which supplies shredded iceberg lettuce to Taco Bell, has been identified as a possible source of contamination in the cyclosporiasis outbreak that causes episodes of explosive diarrhea, according to a new report (AFP via Getty Images)\"OnOn Tuesday, Taco Bell released a statement confirming that it has ‘voluntarily and temporarily removed limited ingredients at select restaurants as a precautionary measure’ amid the outbreak (Getty Images)<\/p>\n

People infected with the parasite can get several discomforting symptoms, including cramping and nausea, but what has captured the most attention is the possibility of explosive diarrhea. <\/p>\n

Without a confirmed source of the outbreak, Americans are avoiding eating fruits and vegetables <\/a>over fears of being stuck on the toilet on a family vacation or a trip to the beach. <\/p>\n

Officials in Michigan, which has seen the highest number of cases, said earlier this week that lettuce may be the culprit.<\/p>\n

\"NearlyNearly 7,000 cases of cyclosporiasis have been reported across the country (Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cEarly information has shown lettuce as a common product that regularly comes up during the investigation,\u201d Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, the state\u2019s chief medical executive, said in a statement. <\/p>\n

Michigan has seen more than 4,300 cases, including about 100 that have resulted in hospitalization, according to state officials. <\/p>\n

Local news radio station WWJ<\/a> reported earlier this month that several Taco Bell locations, including in Metro Detroit, put up a sign that read, \u201cWe are currently unable to sell Lettuce, Cilantro Onion, Pico de Gallo, and Guacamole due to a nationwide recall.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taco Bell told The Independent that \u201cwhile no official advisory has been issued, we believe public health is a shared responsibility among restaurants, their suppliers, and authorities, and we are proud to have consistently acted quickly and proactively to protect our guests.<\/p>\n

\u201cTaco Bell has taken precautionary action, and we encourage all relevant restaurants, retailers, and foodservice operators to do the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ariana Baio contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":697437,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[84,59,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-697436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-gb","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/697436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=697436"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/697436\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/697437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=697436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=697436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=697436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}