Lettuce responsible for explosive diarrhoea parasite outbreak at Taco Bell
Between May and June 2026, contaminated food served at Taco Bell outlets around the Michigan area caused thousands of cases of cyclosporiasis, resulting in “explosive and watery diarrhoea” in unlucky guests.
Now, after an urgent investigation from the Federal Health Services, the source of this contaminated food has been found.
After 1,644 cases of parasitic infections were reported across five American states, the culprit for the outbreak has been traced to packaged shredded iceberg lettuce, a kind used by hundreds of Taco Bell outlets.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published this finding on July 16th, along with an urgent call to outlets in Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia to shelve all their lettuce produce and prevent its sale until replacements can be found.
According to the US Food and Drug Administration, not only has the cause of this outbreak been found, but the contaminated lettuce has been traced back to a supplier in Mexico.
They are also continuing to monitor outbreaks of cyclosporiasis nationwide to see if any other contaminated supplies of lettuce have found their way to outlets outside of the area where the outbreak was originally reported.
On the upside, while cyclosporiasis isn’t fun, there’s very little risk to one’s life. Diarrhoea is one of several symptoms ranging from cramping, nausea, loss of appetite, fatigue and low-grade fever, but while in extreme cases these can last for a whole month, most people will recover without medical attention within a few days.
In fact, this was a key reason why the source of this outbreak took longer to find than anticipated, as most people who suffered from cyclosporiasis did not report their symptoms to the FDA.
“The true number of sick people in this multistate outbreak is likely higher than the number reported, and the outbreak may not be limited to the states with known illnesses,” says the update from CDC, “This is because some people recover without medical care and are not tested for Cyclospora.”
The Food and Drug Administration was also keen to stress that the most risk-free way to prepare lettuce is to only use fresh produce, washed thoroughly first with the outer layers removed.