Taylor Farms Lettuce Recall: 1,644 Sick in Five States, and a Bag That Was Probably in Your Fridge
By the EatSure teamPublished Updated 3 min read
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At a glance
- As of the FDA's July 16 update, 1,644 people in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia have Cyclospora infections, and 94 have been hospitalized.
- Taco Bell stopped serving lettuce and other fresh produce at affected restaurants on July 9.
- On July 17, the FDA traced the outbreak to iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms de México, and Taylor Fresh Foods recalled it.
- The recalled retail bags are Marketside Iceberg Salad (12 and 24 oz) and Marketside Shredded Lettuce (8 and 16 oz) from Walmart, best if used by July 18 to August 3, 2026.
The issue
In late June, clinics across the Midwest started seeing patients with the same story: a week or more of watery diarrhea, exhaustion, and weight loss. The cause was Cyclospora, a parasite that lives on fresh produce and is not removed by rinsing. By the time the FDA named the source on July 17, shredded iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms de México, the bags had been on shelves and in refrigerators for weeks.
How big it is so far
As of the FDA's July 16 update, 1,644 people in five states had fallen ill and 94 had been hospitalized, with no deaths reported. The lettuce went two ways: to Taco Bell restaurants, which pulled lettuce and other fresh produce on July 9, and to Walmart shelves as Marketside Iceberg Salad (12 and 24 oz) and Marketside Shredded Lettuce (8 and 16 oz) with best-if-used-by dates from July 18 to August 3. The recalled product was shipped between June 29 and July 16 to more than two dozen states, and foodservice packs of shredded lettuce were recalled too.
What it means for you
A recall is a press release. Nobody calls you. If you bought a bag of Marketside lettuce on July 10, ate half of it, and tossed the receipt in a drawer, you find out only if you happen to see the news and match the dates yourself. If you are new to how this works, start with how the FDA food recall process works.
How EatSure closes the gap
Scan your grocery receipt once and EatSure keeps every item on watch, checking it against each new FDA and USDA recall for a month on the free plan and for up to 12 months on Pro. When something matches you get a push notification with a "Why this flagged" panel: what was recalled, how to tell it apart from similar products, and what to check on your package. You do not need to remember a lot code. You need to have scanned the receipt.
What to do if you have it
- Check your refrigerator for Marketside Iceberg Salad or Marketside Shredded Lettuce with a best-if-used-by date from July 18 to August 3, 2026. Do not eat it; throw it away.
- Cyclospora symptoms usually start about a week after eating contaminated food: watery diarrhea, loss of appetite, weight loss, cramps, bloating, nausea, and fatigue. Without treatment they can last for weeks.
- Cyclospora is treated with a prescription antibiotic, so see a doctor if you have these symptoms.
Updates since publication
The count grew to 6,358 illnesses in 15 states, with 278 hospitalizations and two deaths, both in Michigan.
Source: FDA, Cyclospora Illnesses: Iceberg Lettuce, update of August 5 · August 5, 2026
The CDC declared the outbreak over at 12,883 laboratory-confirmed illnesses in 21 states, 570 hospitalizations, and two deaths. Michigan's own tally, which counts every case reported during its investigation, reached 14,718 by September 3. It is the largest Cyclospora outbreak ever recorded in the United States. The FDA classified the recall Class I on August 28, and the recalled lettuce is past its best-if-used-by dates.
Sources: FDA, Cyclospora Illnesses: Iceberg Lettuce, final update · September 11, 2026; FDA, Explaining the FDA's classification of the Taylor Farms de Mexico iceberg lettuce recall · August 28, 2026; Fortune, Cyclospora outbreaks expose decades-old US food safety problems · September 4, 2026; Food Poisoning Bulletin, 2026 Cyclospora outbreak tracker
Sources
- FDA, Investigation of Multistate Outbreak of Cyclospora Illnesses: Iceberg Lettuce (July 2026), update of July 16 · July 16, 2026
- FDA, Taylor Fresh Foods recalls iceberg lettuce from Central Mexico because of possible health risk · July 18, 2026
- Food Safety News, Taco Bell pulls fresh produce at some locations because of Cyclospora outbreak
