A newly released Food and Drug Administration report details the full scope of a massive produce recall connected to a nationwide cyclospora outbreak, naming major restaurant chains and retail brands that pulled nearly 240,000 cases of lettuce.
Saturday’s update identifies potential cyclospora contamination as the cause for the July 2026 recall initiated by supplier Taylor Farms.
In total, 236,192 cases of iceberg and romaine lettuce — some mixed with carrots and red cabbage — were removed from distribution across Mexico and 27 U.S. states.
Walmart’s house brand Marketside received the largest share of the recalled produce, accounting for 109,476 cases of salad and shredded lettuce.
Fast-food chains were also heavily affected. Subway removed 8,075 cases, Yum! Brands — the parent company of Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut — recalled 5,900 cases, and Jack in the Box removed 5,130 cases. While Yum! Brands operates multiple companies, only Taco Bell has been tied to the recall so far.
Other commercial accounts listed in the federal report include major food distributors Sysco, Markon, Peak Lettuce Salad and US Foods subsidiary Cross Valley Farms.
The disclosure comes after nonprofit consumer advocacy group Consumer Federation of America criticized Taylor Farms on July 21 for using obscure shorthand abbreviations on recall notices, such as “MKTSD” for Marketside and “CV” for Cross Valley Farms.
The recalled produce was sourced from central Mexico and distributed across a wide geographic footprint, including Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia.
The report offers the clearest picture yet of a health crisis that escalated over the summer.
As reported by The Independent, federal health officials have tracked more than 22,700 cyclospora cases nationwide, leading to more than 500 hospitalizations and two deaths.
The microscopic parasite, which is transmitted through exposure to human fecal matter, causes severe gastrointestinal illness, explosive diarrhea and dehydration.
Michigan has been as the epicenter of the crisis, accounting for more than 12,000 reported cases.
However, state health officials recently advised residents that they could resume eating bagged salads, noting that new case reports and emergency room visits were slowing down and that contaminated produce from the early summer harvest wa no longer in circulation.
In an interview with CBS Face the Nation on Sunday, National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya defended the Trump administration’s response to the outbreak, hailing FDA officials who did a “great job” trying to identify the source.
The outbreak has also taken a toll on the restaurant industry. Taco Bell reported a sales decline of roughly 2 percent during its recent fiscal quarter.
“The brand has seen a meaningful near-term sales impact,” Yum! Brands CEO Chris Turner told analysts on a recent earnings call, according to CNBC.