▶ Watch Video: FDA identifies likely source of lettuce containing diarrhea-causing parasite
A lettuce supplier to fast-food giant Taco Bell is being investigated as a possible source for a nationwide cyclosporiasis outbreak that has sickened thousands of people, a source familiar with the investigation told CBS News on Thursday.
The source said a traceback investigation by the Food and Drug Administration identified a single supplier of iceberg lettuce from Mexico, Taylor Farms, that was used by Taco Bell locations in five states where people who contracted cyclosporiasis ate. The FDA is investigating, the source said.
Taylor Farms, based in Salinas, California, is a supplier to several major restaurant chains across the U.S.
“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 said in a statement Thursday. “The affected ingredient from our supplier is being indefinitely removed from our supply chain nationwide and will be replaced within 24 hours in select states.”
CBS News has reached out to Taylor Farms for comment as well.
The outbreak, a diarrheal illness caused by the parasite cyclospora, was first reported in early May and has since spread to 34 states, according to the latest numbers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It has sickened at least 1,645 people, per CDC data, including at least 141 hospitalizations. But the CDC’s tally lags behind state health departments, which have reported much larger numbers of cases. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services reported Thursday at least 4,312 confirmed cases, including 102 that required hospitalization.
Last year, an E. coli outbreak was linked to onions provided to several restaurants from a Taylor Farms facility in Colorado. As a result, McDonald’s was briefly forced to stop using onions on its Quarter Pounders at some locations.
On its website, Taylor Farms bills itself as the “leading global producer of salads and healthy fresh foods, with production facilities across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Western Europe.”
According to the CDC, cyclosporiasis symptoms usually begin about a week after infection, and the illness can last anywhere from two days to two weeks or more. Symptoms include watery diarrhea, loss of appetite, weight loss, bloating, nausea and fatigue.
Cyclosporiasis spreads when infected feces contaminate food and water. According to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, previous outbreaks in the U.S. and Canada were linked to bagged salad mixes and kits, fresh cilantro, fresh basil, raspberries, snow peas and green onions.
Experts say people are advised to wash all fresh produce and cook all food when possible.
“The best way to avoid ingesting it is to cook your food,” Dr. Nuwan Gunawardhana, an infectious disease expert at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, told CBS News, adding that brushing or scrubbing vegetables can also help get rid of it. “But it’s also known to be extremely adherent to surfaces, so it won’t protect you 100%.”