Some Taco Bell restaurants have pulled lettuce and other fresh ingredients amid a multistate outbreak of Cyclospora parasite, which can cause explosive diarrhea.
Two Taco Bell restaurants located in Michigan confirmed to Restaurant Dive on Friday that they were not serving lettuce or a cilantro-onion mix and that the decision to stop serving the items was taken last week. Restaurant Dive could not confirm if other menu items were impacted.
The removal comes as the state experiences a significant outbreak of cyclosporiasis, a parasitic, diarrheal foodborne illness. As of July 13, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Service reported 2,640 cases and 44 hospitalizations, far exceeding the historical average of around 50 cases per year.
While Michigan has been the hardest hit so far, the Center for Disease Control said the outbreak has been reported in 31 states, including New York, Texas and Illinois.
Health officials have yet to identify a source of the outbreak, and no cases have been publicly tied to Taco Bell. Previous outbreaks had been linked to fresh produce including bagged lettuce, raspberries, fresh cilantro, carrots and green onions, Michigan health authorities said.
The MDHHS provided a list of recommendations for foodservice establishments that use potentially impacted produce. The state health agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the outbreak had been linked to specific restaurant brands.
Analysts said the decision to remove menu items may be limited to Taco Bell.
“We are not aware of anyone getting sick from Taco Bell," Peter Saleh, an analyst with BTIG, said in a July 10 research note. "While we have yet to hear from Yum! management, indications from other restaurant operators suggest this is localized and contained, not widespread to other brands.”
Saleh said BTIG had reached out to several other brands, including Wendy’s and Chipotle, and that “neither Chipotle nor Wendy's is reporting any issue with lettuce or any of the items listed above.”
Saleh said the lack of issues at other restaurants could indicate the food safety incident was not as far-reaching as media reports indicated. Taco Bell did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This latest outbreak comes over a year and a half after McDonald’s experienced an E. coli outbreak tied to slivered onions in its Quarter Pounders. While that outbreak led to a temporary dip in same-store sales for one quarter, it largely had minimal impact on the overall company. From 2015 to 2018, Chipotle experienced various outbreaks of foodborne illnesses, including a highly publicized Norovirus outbreak that led the company to implement new food safety protocols in 2019, and to pay a $25 million settlement in 2020.
