Taco Bell Ditches Lettuce Nationwide After Massive Multi-State Outbreak — FDA Traces Illnesses to Supplier from MEXICO as More Than 1,600 Fall Sick and 90+ Hospitalized

An explosive diarrhea epidemic strikes Taco Bell customers as federal officials finally trace the parasite nightmare to contaminated iceberg lettuce from a repeat-offender supplier.

Late Thursday, the CDC and FDA issued an urgent, multi-state warning to consumers: DO NOT EAT shredded iceberg lettuce from Taco Bell locations.

What started as a creeping health crisis has exploded into a full-blown national disaster, leaving an unbelievable 1,644 people infected with a horrific, explosive diarrhea-causing parasite known as Cyclospora.

According to the FDA: 

Most people infected with Cyclospora develop diarrhea, with frequent, bowel movements. Other common symptoms include loss of appetite, weight loss, stomach cramps/pain, bloating, increased gas, nausea, and fatigue. Vomiting, body aches, headache fever may be noted. Some people who are infected with Cyclospora do not have any symptoms.

If not treated, the illness may lead to dehydration and severe complications that may require higher levels of care. These complications may last from a few days to a month or longer.

Symptoms may seem to go away and then return one or more times (relapse). Immunocompromised persons may experience more severe illness of longer duration along with complications requiring close medical attention.

According to official reports, at least 94 people have been hospitalized after consuming the tainted food. The outbreak is currently hammering five primary states, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia, with local data suggesting the true scale of the crisis could involve thousands more across up to 38 states.

And where is this toxic produce coming from? The FDA has officially traced the contaminated iceberg lettuce back to Mexico.

Taco Bell issued a statement on July 16 announcing it was immediately and voluntarily removing potentially impacted lettuce from a supplier in select states and then pulling all iceberg lettuce from its nationwide supply chain, replacing it within 24 hours. The company said the health and safety of guests is its top priority.

The supplier at the center of this nightmare is reportedly Taylor Farms, a massive agricultural conglomerate that has been repeatedly tied to major foodborne outbreaks in the past, including a notorious 2024 E. coli outbreak linked to McDonald’s onions and a 2013 parasite outbreak, according to PBS.