New developments in the cyclosporiasis outbreak have been breaking so quickly, I needed to map out a clear timeline of recent events, which I now present to you: On Thursday, July 16, the FDA announced it had “linked” cases to shredded iceberg lettuce supplied to Taco Bells in five states by Taylor Farms. In response, the next day Taylor Farms set in motion a voluntary recall of all their iceberg lettuce from central Mexico, where the contaminated shipments had been traced back to. Then on Saturday, the FDA reported that a sample of Taylor Farms iceberg lettuce had tested positive for the cyclospora parasite, but by late Sunday, the FDA backtracked and said the result was a “false positive.”
However, it’s important to note that while the FDA said “whoopsie!” on this one test, they still adamantly maintain that there is “overwhelming epidemiological data supporting the current voluntary recall by Taylor Farms.” In other words, we should still be avoiding Taylor Farms iceberg lettuce. Done. For some who have been afflicted, their experience was so bad that the FDA merely claiming a “link” to Taylor Farms was all the evidence they needed to file lawsuits against Taylor and Taco Bell:
Lawsuit #1: An Ohio man filed the first lawsuit against Pacific Bells, one of the largest Taco Bell franchises in the country, in a federal court on July 16. The complaint says the man ate two meals at a North Olmsted Taco Bell on June 14 and a third at the same location on June 21, and began to fall ill about a week later. The lawsuit said the man developed diarrhea and began vomiting on June 24. He sought medical attention on July 3 and, after providing a stool sample for testing, learned he had contracted cyclosporiasis. The complaint says the man’s sickness, in addition to symptoms, forced him to miss two weeks of work and lose income.
Lawsuit #2: Then, on July 17, a second lawsuit related to the cyclosporiasis outbreak was filed by an Ohio woman. Her complaint named Taco Bell America and its suppliers, Taylor Farms California and Taylor Fresh Foods. The woman’s lawsuit said she ate food sold from Taco Bell on June 3, June 15, and June 24. “As a direct and proximate result of her Cyclospora infection, Plaintiff suffered physical illness, pain, and suffering, a diminished working capacity, and other injuries. Plaintiff’s recovery is ongoing,” the lawsuit said.
Lawsuits #3 & 4: A married Michigan couple filed a third lawsuit on July 17. The couple … named Taco Bell Corp, Taco Bell America, and Taylor Fresh Foods as defendants. The lawsuit said the couple fell sick after they “consumed shredded iceberg lettuce” at a Taco Bell in Durand, Michigan, on June 30. “Plaintiffs were forced to endure great pain, suffering, and inconvenience and may endure the same in the future,” the lawsuit said. A fourth lawsuit against Taylor Fresh Foods and Charter Foods, a Taco Bell franchisee, was also filed on July 17. The lawsuit said the man purchased food on June 18 and June 20 from a Taco Bell in Youngstown and fell sick a few days later.
A statement from Taco Bell Corp: “Based on ongoing conversations with public health officials, and out of an abundance of caution, Taco Bell worked swiftly to voluntarily remove the product from restaurants and the affected ingredient has been removed from our supply chain nationwide,” the company said. Taco Bell Corp. said public health is a “shared responsibility among restaurants, their suppliers, and authorities, and we are proud to have consistently acted quickly and proactively to protect our guests.”
“Plaintiffs were forced to endure great pain, suffering, and inconvenience…” and that was just from eating the food! Bah-dum-bum. (What, you have to let me be funny somewhere!) I said it before and I’ll say it again: NO salad is worth this agita and illness. All the plaintiffs cited in these four cases have secured legal representation from firms that specialize in food safety law. I hope these experts cook up a rich serving of evidence that leaves the judge and juries feeling thoroughly sated.
As for Taylor Farms, I want to stress again that the FDA still strongly believes they are the culprit, even if this test turned out to be a false positive, which apparently is common due to the nature of cyclospora testing. Also, there were rumors flying around that Taylor Farms donated $1 million to a Trump super PAC in order to get that result reversed. CB and I have been unable to verify this, because it’s probably a mix-up of confirmed reporting that Taylor Farms donated $1M to a Trump super PAC, but in March 2025. The transaction happened to fall shortly after the FDA announced that the Food Traceability Rule — a measure that will greatly improve the ease and speed of tracing contaminated foods — would be delayed from going into effect until July 2028.
We will see the other side of this particular outbreak. When we do, let’s (lettuce?) remember that the world’s largest producer of salad paid big money to inhibit food tracing efforts.
— Taco Bell (@tacobell) July 17, 2026
Photo note by CB: I took that photo of the discounted lettuce at my local Kroger on 7-21-26. It can be reposted under a CC BY license. Other photos credit: Yanhao Fang on Unsplash and via Instagram/Taco Bell