Taylor Farms Fresh Foods, the produce supplier allegedly tied to a US outbreak of explosive-diarrhea-inducing cyclosporiasis, said Friday it is pulling back all of its iceberg lettuce from the suspected source in Mexico.
“Based on information provided yesterday by the FDA, Taylor Farms de Mexico is voluntarily removing all iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico,’’ the company said in a statement.
Nearly 7,000 people have been affected by the outbreak across 34 states, which appears to be tied to tainted lettuce that so far has popped up at Taco Bells. There have been 94 hospitalizations and no deaths, the CDC said.
Taylor Farms provides produce, including leafy greens and pre-packaged salad kits, to large fast-food chains such as Taco Bell, McDonald’s, Burger King and Chipotle
The supplier told Taco Bell’s parent company, Yum Brands, as well as mega food distributor Sysco, to pull their lettuce from distribution, according to Reuters.
The CDC says on its website, “FDA’s traceback investigation has identified a single supplier of iceberg lettuce from Mexico used by these Taco Bell locations.’’
Taco Bell has since voluntarily removed the potentially contaminated produce from its supply chain “indefinitely.”
Neither the CDC nor FDA have identified the alleged tainted lettuce’s supplier, but both The Associated Press and Washington Post have said it is Taylor Farms.
The California-based firm’s produce also is peddled at stores such as Target, Whole Foods, Walmart and Amazon Fresh, according to its website — though there has been no indication that any of the allegedly tainted shredded iceberg lettuce believed to be connected to the outbreak made it to those retailers.
The company added on X on Friday, “No Taylor Farms branded salads or kits are associated with this outbreak. No Taylor Farms branded salad kits contain iceberg lettuce.’’
The number of customers at major fast-food chains such as Taco Bell, Jersey Mike’s Subs, Chipotle and Panera has dropped dramatically since the parasite outbreak began July 8.
