Michigan says it's OK to start eating salads again as cyclospora outbreak wanes

By Jaimy Lee

The outbreak is the largest ever in the U.S.

Taylor Farms' greens are sold in grocery stores and restaurants. The company recalled shredded iceberg lettuce in July over concerns that it was contaminated with cyclospora.

It's safe to eat lettuce and bagged salad greens again now that cyclospora cases are declining - at least in Michigan.

The state, which has been at the center of the biggest cyclospora outbreak in the U.S., said Thursday that new cases of cyclosporiasis are decreasing. So are emergency department visits for diarrhea, a common symptom of cyclosporiasis, the gastrointestinal illness caused by the parasite.

Michigan has reported 12,485 confirmed or suspected cases, including two deaths in people with pre-existing conditions who got sick before the July 17 recall of iceberg lettuce grown by Taylor Farms in Central Mexico. The state was the first to figure out that the illnesses were linked to the recalled Taylor Farms shredded lettuce or to Taco Bell restaurants (YUM), which stopped serving lettuce in certain areas of the United States.

However, there are still no confirmed sources at this time, making it difficult for health officials to make clear recommendations about what's safe to eat.

The outbreak in Michigan this year has dwarfed previous outbreaks of the illness in the state, which recorded only about 50 cases of cyclosporiasis in 2025. What has made this summer's outbreak challenging in Michigan and nationwide is that there are likely several outbreaks of cyclospora happening at the same time, for a total of 10,468 confirmed cases in 47 states and another 12,255 suspected cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 500 people have been hospitalized.

The Food and Drug Administration said this week that it expects the number of confirmed cases nationwide to rise.

Michigan health officials now believe that most people got sick in late June or early July, and that the contaminated lettuce is no longer available.

This is good news for fast-casual restaurants like Cava (CAVA), Sweetgreen (SG) and Taco Bell, which saw fewer customers as people avoided eating salads or lettuce of any kind over the summer. Salad and Go, a privately held chain with 70 locations, filed for bankruptcy, citing the outbreak as well as rising gas prices and consumers pulling back on spending.

And on Thursday, Sweetgreen announced a lowered outlook for the year, citing dwindling sales resulting from consumer fears over cyclospora even though it doesn't serve iceberg lettuce.

That said, Sweetgreen, Chipotle (CMG) and several other companies are now dealing with another foodborne illness: jalapeños contaminated with salmonella, a more common foodborne illness than cyclospora. The CDC said Wednesday that the jalapeños were grown in Sinaloa, Mexico, and shipped by Coast Citrus Distributors. Chipotle and Qdoba, a privately held fast-casual Mexican restaurant, stopped serving the jalapeños in question, while Qdoba and Sweetgreen pulled all of the peppers from their menus.

-Jaimy Lee

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

08-07-26 1031ET