Taco Bell has broken its silence over concerns that the chain may be connected to a multistate outbreak of a parasite known to cause severe, sudden diarrhea.
In a statement released Thursday, the fast-food giant said: ‘Based on ongoing conversations with public health officials, and out of an abundance of caution, Taco Bell has taken immediate action to voluntarily remove potentially impacted lettuce from a supplier in select states.
‘The affected ingredient from our supplier is being indefinitely removed from our supply chain nationwide and will be replaced within 24 hours in select states.
‘While no official advisory has been issued, we believe 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.
‘Taco Bell has taken precautionary action, and we encourage all relevant restaurants, retailers, and foodservice operators to do the same.’
The company emerged as a possible focus of the investigation earlier this week, after anonymous sources told The Washington Post that federal and state health officials were examining whether Taco Bell restaurants could be tied to the outbreak.
On Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration updated their cyclosporiasis outbreak investigation, saying traceback work had connected reported illnesses to shredded iceberg lettuce from a single supplier in Mexico. The lettuce had been served at Taco Bell locations in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia.
Taco Bell said it has acted out of caution and urged other restaurants, retailers and foodservice operators to take similar steps
The CDC and FDA did not identify the supplier, but two people familiar with the investigation who spoke on the condition of anonymity told The Washington Post that Taylor Farms was the supplier of the shredded iceberg lettuce.
And on Friday, there were reports that Taylor Farms was preparing to recall ingredients potentially linked to the outbreak.
The company told US regulators of its plan on Friday, according to a document viewed by Bloomberg News.
Nationwide, cases of cyclosporiasis, caused by the cyclospora parasite, have sickened at least 5,880 people in 41 states.
The CDC stated: ‘Do not eat shredded iceberg lettuce from Taco Bell locations in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia.’
Not all cases are related to the outbreak potentially linked to Taco Bell and the CDC said it is ‘also investigating other outbreaks and illnesses of cyclosporiasis nationally that are unrelated to this outbreak.’
Without issuing an official statement, Taco Bell first began pulling several ingredients from its menus last week, posting notices at several locations in the US saying it would not serve lettuce, pico de gallo, guacamole or cilantro onion.
The posted notices read: ‘We are currently unable to sell lettuce, cilantro onion, pico de gallo, and guacamole due to a nationwide recall. We apologize for the inconvenience.
‘Any items ordered that normally come with these items WILL NOT contain them.’
It is not clear what recall the company was referring to. No food recalls have been issued in connection with the spread of cyclosporiasis cases.
Items that include at least one of these ingredients are tacos, the Crunchwrap Supreme and certain Cantina Chicken items.
It’s unclear if any Taco Bell consumers have been sickened by cyclosporiasis.
People become infected with cyclosporiasis by eating food or drinking water contaminated with the cyclospora parasite, most commonly through fresh produce such as leafy greens, herbs and berries.
In the US, most cases are typically linked to international travel or imported produce from regions where the parasite is common, including Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean.
Fresh produce can become contaminated if it is washed or irrigated with water contaminated by human sewage.
Previous outbreaks have been linked to bagged salad kits, cilantro, basil and other leafy greens.
Cyclosporiasis typically causes explosive diarrhea, abdominal cramping, nausea, vomiting and fatigue.
Unlike norovirus or routine food poisoning, however, symptoms often come and go rather than resolving after a few days.
Without treatment, experts say the illness can persist for weeks or repeatedly return.
Anyone with diarrhea lasting more than a few days should seek medical care and specifically ask for a cyclospora test, as it is not routinely ordered, Dr Swapnil Patel, vice chair of medicine at Hackensack Meridian Jersey Shore University Medical Center, told Daily Mail.
The test detects cyclospora DNA in stool samples and typically requires one to three samples.
Treatment for the infection consists of the antibiotic trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, sold under the brand names Bactrim, Septra and Cotrim.
