A major food safety operation is underway across the United States. Walmart has pulled four types of bagged iceberg lettuce from its stores in 27 states, citing a potential link to a national outbreak of cyclosporiasis.
The retailer removed specific Marketside bagged salad products supplied by Taylor Farms as a precaution. This action follows a similar move by Taco Bell, which last week removed all lettuce from the same supplier from its restaurants in five states.
Federal health officials, including the FDA and CDC, have linked the parasitic infection to shredded iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms de Mexico. Cyclospora is a microscopic parasite that infects the intestinal tract, causing prolonged diarrhea.
The outbreak is significant. In Michigan alone, state health officials report over 5,000 cases, with more than 100 hospitalizations. Taylor Farms has suspended all iceberg lettuce processing from Central Mexico and issued a recall notice.
The nation's largest food distributor, Sysco, has also confirmed it is removing Mexican-sourced iceberg lettuce from its supply chain. The recall affects products sold at restaurants and food service outlets across a wide swath of the country.
Walmart is advising customers not to consume the recalled salads and to return them for a full refund. Taylor Farms has previously been linked to other foodborne illness outbreaks, including an E. coli incident involving onions at McDonald's two years ago.