July 17 (Reuters) – Taylor Farms, a California-based lettuce supplier, told U.S. regulators it was preparing to issue a recall of ingredients linked to a parasite outbreak that has sickened thousands in Michigan and nearby states, Bloomberg News reported on Friday.
The scope of the recall is unclear, Bloomberg reported, citing a document. Taylor Farms did not respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are investigating a cyclosporiasis outbreak linked to shredded iceberg lettuce served at Taco Bell locations in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia. The parasitic illness can cause diarrhea and other gastrointestinal symptoms.
Michigan health officials reported 5,002 cases of cyclosporiasis on Friday, an increase of 690 cases from a day earlier as investigators continued efforts to identify the source of the unusually large outbreak of the intestinal illness.
On Thursday, the FDA said Yum Brands-owned Taco Bell would discontinue using lettuce from a supplier identified by the agency in its investigation, shortly after the restaurant chain’s statement that it had voluntarily removed the affected ingredient and would replace it within 24 hours in some states.
Taco Bell and the FDA did not name the supplier, but the food safety regulator said its traceback investigation identified a common supplier of iceberg lettuce from Mexico used by Taco Bell locations where sick people ate before becoming ill.
The Washington Post reported on Thursday that Taylor Farms had been identified by investigators as a potential source of contamination in the outbreak.
(Reporting by Anuja Bharat Mistry and Sneha SK in Bengaluru; Editing by Diti Pujara and Anil D’Silva)
