U.S. lettuce supplier Taylor Farms is recalling iceberg lettuce after the Food and Drug Administration said evidence indicates the lettuce was the source of some of the illnesses in the cyclosporiasis outbreak.
“Based on information provided yesterday by the FDA, Taylor Farms de Mexico is voluntarily removing all iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico,” Taylor Farms said in a statement.
Cyclosporiasis is caused by a parasite that is present in produce and water contaminated with feces. Thousands have contracted cyclosporiasis in the United States in recent weeks. Federal officials announced Thursday that iceberg lettuce supplied by a vendor to Taco Bell restaurants was identified as a likely source of the outbreak, but had not identified the vendor.
Taylor Farms, based in Salinas, California, sells fresh produce as well as packaged salads and salad kits.
The company said that none of its salads or kits have been associated with the outbreak of cyclosporiasis. None of those packages contain iceberg lettuce.
“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.”
Epidemiological information collected by federal officials showed that 1,644 people who were infected with the Cyclospora parasite had eaten at Taco Bell, officials said on Thursday. Nine in 10 people whose food exposure was analyzed by officials in Michigan, which has recorded more than 5,000 cases, had eaten iceberg lettuce.
A traceback investigation undertaken by the FDA identified “a single supplier of iceberg lettuce from Mexico used by Taco Bell locations where sick people ate before becoming ill,” the FDA said in a statement.
The FDA said it was working with Taco Bell, which committed to halting the use of lettuce from the supplier.
“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,” Taco Bell told news outlets in a statement. The company has not responded to requests for more details.
Taylor Farms said that the apparently contaminated lettuce came from a single farm that represented less than 1 percent of the United States’ iceberg lettuce supply.
“We have removed all iceberg lettuce from the region indefinitely,” the company said.
Taylor Farms’ products have been pinpointed as causing outbreaks in the past, including salad mix from the company being behind a 2013 cyclosporiasis outbreak that affected Iowa and Nebraska.