A widespread outbreak of a severe stomach illness in the United States has been linked to shredded iceberg lettuce served at Taco Bell restaurants, according to a source familiar with the investigation who spoke to ABC News. The finding points investigators toward a specific product served at the fast-food chain as they work to trace how thousands of people fell ill across the country.
According to that source, the lettuce in question was served at Taco Bell locations in five states. Those states are Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia, a cluster in the Midwest and neighboring regions where cases were tied back to the chain. The link was described as part of the wider federal effort to pin down the origin of the illness.
Investigators also narrowed in on where the lettuce came from. The source said the Food and Drug Administration's investigation identified a single supplier of iceberg lettuce, imported from Mexico, that was used by the Taco Bell locations involved. Isolating one common supplier is a key step in outbreak investigations, helping explain how a single contaminated product can sicken people across multiple states.
Taco Bell responded with a more detailed account of the steps it was taking. In a statement, the chain said that, out of an abundance of caution, it had taken immediate action to voluntarily remove potentially impacted lettuce from a supplier in select states. It added that the affected ingredient from that supplier was being indefinitely removed from its supply chain nationwide and would be replaced within 24 hours in the affected states, going further than the initial removal of some ingredients earlier in the week.
The illness at the center of the outbreak was identified as cyclosporiasis, a parasitic infection. According to guidance shared around the investigation, it is usually not life-threatening, and most people with a healthy immune system recover on their own. The concern is that symptoms can drag on anywhere from a few days to well over a month, which is why people in the affected states who develop symptoms are urged to see a doctor and get tested, as antibiotics are available that can shorten the length and severity of the illness.
The scale of the outbreak has been considerable. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported nearly 7,000 cases of the intestinal illness across 34 states, making it one of the larger foodborne episodes to draw federal attention in recent months. The case count spans well beyond the five states where the lettuce was specifically tied to Taco Bell.
Foodborne outbreaks of this kind are often traced to fresh produce, which can become contaminated at various points before reaching consumers and is frequently eaten raw. That makes items like leafy greens a recurring focus for investigators, and it can take time to connect scattered illnesses in different states to a common source and supplier.
For now, the investigation remains active, and questions remain about how the lettuce became contaminated and how widely it was distributed. ABC News said it had reached out to Taco Bell again for comment and had not heard back. Officials are expected to keep tracing the product as they work to confirm the source and prevent further illnesses.