Mexican health and agriculture regulators have launched a joint probe after a U.S. cyclospora outbreak was linked to shredded iceberg lettuce grown in central Mexico and sold at Taco Bell. About 100 people have been hospitalized across several states, prompting Taylor Farms and distributor Sysco to remove the implicated iceberg lettuce based on FDA information. Mexican agencies stress that traceability alone does not prove where contamination occurred and say inspections and preventive measures are ongoing.
Mexico Probes Cyclospora Outbreak Linked to Taco Bell Lettuce; Taylor Farms, Sysco Pull Product
FILE PHOTO: A Taco Bell order and drinks sit inside the first digital-only U.S. location at Times Square in New York City, U.S., April 14, 2021. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/ File Photo
Mexico's health and agricultural ministries have opened an investigation into a sizable U.S. outbreak of cyclosporiasis that health officials have linked to shredded iceberg lettuce grown in central Mexico and sold at Taco Bell.
Interagency Investigation Under Way
Cofepris, Mexico's sanitary regulator, and Senasica, the country's agricultural and food safety regulator, said they formed an interagency technical working group to review the matter and implement preventive measures. The agencies said inspections and traceability analyses carried out so far are "strictly preventive in nature" and aimed at "mitigating any potential health risk."
U.S. Impact and Industry Response
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported about 100 hospitalizations among people who became ill with cyclosporiasis — a parasitic infection that can cause severe diarrhea and other gastrointestinal symptoms — after eating shredded lettuce at Taco Bell restaurants in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia.
On Friday, Taylor Farms, a California-based supplier, and food distributor Sysco said they are removing iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico, citing information provided by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). An industry source, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the lettuce was packed in 5-pound (2.3-kg) bags at Taylor Farms' facility in Guanajuato and is widely distributed to hospitals, ballparks and fast-food chains.
Mexico's officials emphasized the investigation is ongoing and that traceability identifying a product's country of origin does not, by itself, confirm that contamination occurred in Mexico.
Context
Taylor Farms' growing and processing facilities in Guanajuato were previously linked to a major U.S. cyclosporiasis outbreak in 2013 that sickened more than 600 people across 25 states, according to the CDC.
The investigation remains active. Consumers should follow updates from public health authorities and seek medical attention if they develop prolonged or severe gastrointestinal symptoms after consuming implicated products.
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