Taylor Farms Recalls Mexican Iceberg Lettuce in U.S. Over Cyclosporiasis Outbreak

Cyclosporiasis in the U.S.: Taylor Farms recalls Mexican lettuce. The FDA traces the outbreak to a farm in Guanajuato; more than 1,600 cases across five states. Here is what we know.

Taylor Farms withdrew all iceberg lettuce of Mexican origin from the U.S. market on Friday, July 17, 2026, after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) confirmed that the product is linked to a cyclosporiasis outbreak in at least five states.

The FDA's traceability investigation identified a single independent farm in central Mexico, in the state of Guanajuato, as the probable source of the Cyclospora parasite, which causes intense watery diarrhea, vomiting, low-grade fever, and body aches. The lettuce was processed in five-pound bags at a Taylor Farms facility in that state and distributed to Taco Bell restaurants, as well as to hospitals and other establishments through distributor Sysco, according to The Verge. For Mexico, the episode directly implicates the agricultural export chain that supplies the North American market: iceberg lettuce is one of the fresh products the country ships to the United States year-round, according to El Financiero.

The states affected by the Taco Bell-linked outbreak are Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia. Michigan has the highest case count: 5,002 reports (including probable cases) and 102 hospitalizations as of July 17, as reported by Ars Technica. Nationally, the CDC counts 1,645 laboratory-confirmed cases and 141 hospitalizations. The implicated farm accounts for less than 1% of the total U.S. iceberg lettuce supply. Taylor Farms clarified that none of its own-brand salads or kits contain iceberg lettuce, so those products are not associated with the outbreak.

Taco Bell completed the removal of the ingredient from its national supply chain. Taylor Farms indicated that the suspension of iceberg lettuce purchases from central Mexico will remain in place indefinitely, while the FDA continues its traceability investigation to rule out other possible origin points of the parasite.

This article was written with artificial intelligence assistance from verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.