Of all the processed junk that goes into a Taco Bell it is the lettuce that gets you.

I almost feel bad for Taco Bell.

The jokes just write themselves

But a parasite is unusual!

Of course, they use lettuce too, what's a guy to do?

and I think I've only been to one twice in my life. lol

I prefer food truck ones (finally have a food truck that setup shop near me ).

But, I’m a bit suspicious of this origin story.

All greens and certain fruits (eg. Raspberries) are potential risks as well. I’m not eating any raw veggies till they sort this out.

gonna be raw veggies of some sort.

Dairy? Unless raw or pasteurization was incomplete, or some problem with cheese, nah.

Meat? How, exactly?

Different organism, same means of delivery.

But in general, leafy produce is often recalled for salmonella or listeria contamination (often due to those bacteria in the irrigation water, which can be taken up by the plant roots).

In other words, cook everything.

particularly being difficult to wash like many berries (strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, boysenberries, mulberries, etc). There are melons like cantaloupe, that have been recalled in the past.

Then there is the annual "The Dirty Dozen" - https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/dirty-dozen.php

... but now it has spread into a much wider area of 4 or 5 states. Yikes!

We haven't eaten there in years, something in their seasonings always made us sick

literally

Who knew? What do they need a parasite for?

They also own Pizza Hut. (Do they even have salads anymore?)

But the weather here has been so crazy that I'm afraid of bolting lettuce in the fall at this point!

All bagged lettuce, potentially all lettuces, cilantro, raspberries, and others. Only safe approach is to cook everything.

Nothing to worry about. Our farmers (that love tRUMP) would never be so stupid as to place lettuce farms next to cattle farms. Right? Wrong 🤢🤮 We should call them poop farms. Blowfly sits on a turd all day then flies over to our romaine lettuce. ☹️

The Amish still do it.

usually goes on for at least a year and gets hot enough, temperature-wise, to kill most pathogens.

Spreading "fresh" manure (cow, horse, chicken) is a no-no and I am sure the Amish are using composted manure from designated piles that also might include "greens" (cut plant material) and "browns" (old leaves).

Bagged manure is sterilized.

Grazing cattle near the edible plantings means a risk of contamination from fresh manure.

Before modern times, I wonder how they dealt with it and whether salmonella and e coli were responsible for illnesses and deaths in times past.

I know that methane gas can be a problem with manure storage.

My grandparents had a farm in an area where there were several other family farms. I remember the drive to visit them in the spring. The manure odor coming from the fields was strong. I wondered how people who lived there could stand it every day.

They would have noticed that piles of manure on fields and barns would start to heat up as it broke down.

It's literally been traced back for thousands of years - originally for soil improvement and later as a beneficial pathogen killer!

From NatGeo -

burned organic materials in a field where they intended to plant.

But they also recognized that some plants grown together benefited each other. They could not have named the specific nutrients involved, but could observe and take advantage of the results. So they grew corn beans, and squash together.

Not saying that having lettuce farms next to cow and/or pig farms is a good idea, as it's been linked to previous outbreaks of Salmonella and E. Coli - but in this case, it is not applicable.

I hope they resolve these issues. Taylor Farms seems to be the problem. One of the stores I shop at carries a lot of their products. I'll check this Saturday when I do my shopping.

They have an insane number of recalls in such a short period of time.

Seems the posts were correct. Hmmm...

Not quite sure what to think of that, but happy they are narrowing things down and wish all affected by this a safe and complete recovery.

Last edited Fri Jul 17, 2026, 12:31 AM - Edit history (2)

"Taylor Farms" not a farm. It is a produce packaging operation with 20,000 employees and production facilities in Mexico, Canada and Europe. They have been previously associated with an E. Coli outbreak and another Cyclosporiasis outbreak. Too big to jail? There is no excuse for a lack of basic sanitation in packing facilities. This is 2026 not 1826.

Kudos to the Michigan state health department. Tracking down the source of an outbreak is absolutely essential and that takes a budget, expertise, and manpower, the very things that are being cut in the federal government.

F you Elon Musk and RFK Jr.

I thought I'd remembered another issue with them, and looking back at recalls, they have had 4 recalls here in Canada since 2021. That is ridiculous!

I don't think I saw them, at least where I live, before covid hit, maybe a year or two before at most. To have that many recalls - and that's just in Canada. Who knows how many more in the US?

They should be subject to an indecent amount of monitoring with so many recalls.

I went to Taco Bell about two weeks prior to my symptoms arising, June 23, and as I looked back at where I had eaten, knowing that I was the only one in my family and friends who had it. It was really the only place that I had eaten alone for lunch one day that could have had the possible ingredients, aka “fresh” produce, lettuce and tomato. When I spoke with the CDC and we went back over my diet the two weeks prior to getting sick, it was the only opportunity for me, alone, to have gotten it. And I do like Taco Bell every now and then. Kinda a bummer. Then I find out that I’m probably allergic to the antibiotic, Bactrim, because I broke out in a rash after my final dosage, which apparently is what happens if you’re allergic to it. So out of the frying pan and into the fire.

one normally gets from eating at Taco Bell?

Does it really matter?

Taylor Farms supplies lettuce to many fast food and chain restaurants. A family member of mine works at a Subway sandwich shop and their lettuce comes from Taylor Farms.