K A S H R U T . C O M_©

July 18, 2026 – from the Consumer Reports

"Given the lack of details provided by Taylor Farms, CR’s experts advise consumers in those states to discard all iceberg lettuce out of an abundance of caution

"Taylor Farms, one of the country’s largest producers of salad greens, said Friday that it is recalling from the U.S. market all iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico after health officials identified a farm in the region as a potential source of the outbreak that has sickened thousands of people across the U.S. this summer.

"The recalled iceberg lettuce products were sent to Walmart stores, Jack in the Box restaurants, and major food service distributors, including Sysco, in 27 states between June 29 and July 16. The states that received the implicated lettuce, which the Food and Drug Administration said was being recalled due to possible contamination with the parasite cyclospora, were: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

"The list of implicated products includes Walmart’s house-brand Marketside, a Walmart spokesperson confirmed. The company has removed four bagged iceberg lettuce salad products from select Walmart stores in the 27 states implicated by the recall, spokesperson Rachael Simmons told CR. The removed products are 12- and 24-ounce bags of Marketside Bagged Iceberg Salad (UPC: 681131328944 and 681131328951, respectively) and 8- and 16-ounce bags of Marketside Bagged Shredded Iceberg Salad (UPC: 681131328968 and 681131532099). The products have “best by” dates ranging from July 18 to Aug. 3, 2026.

"The recall notices posted by Taylor Farms and the FDA are notably sparse on the essential details consumers need to easily identify affected products. The recall notice does not list the full brand names of the implicated products, and instead lists only what appear to be the abbreviations used internally by Taylor Farms to identify brands.

"Walmart’s Marketside house brand, for instance, was listed as “MKTSD” and Sysco, the U.S.’s largest food distributor, was listed as “SY.” Jack in the Box was listed as “JB.” All three companies confirmed that their products were part of the recall after being contacted by Consumer Reports. CR is working to confirm the identities of the five additional brands whose names are abbreviated in the recall notice. Taylor Farms did not immediately respond to CR’s questions about the identity of these brands.

"Given the lack of details, CR’s food safety experts advise consumers in the 27 states where Taylor Farms’ products were distributed to discard all iceberg lettuce out of an abundance of caution."

FDA recall is here

July 17, 2026 from Medpage today:

"Skip bagged salads, salad kits, and boxed salads from the grocery store, and avoid them at restaurants and fast food places, too. Michigan's warning on July 13 (unusual to go public before the FDA) is a strong signal of what they're seeing. Whole heads of lettuce are fine if you strip the outer 2-3 layers, since that's where contamination is most likely to sit."

"Michigan's investigation has yet to pinpoint a company or rule out other foods. Two dozen other states are still under active investigation. So avoiding other foods is reasonable. In previous outbreaks, the culprits were raspberries, fresh herbs (basil, cilantro), onions, and snap/snow peas. I would still avoid these, especially if you're high risk (pregnant, older, or immunocompromised).

"Stick to produce you can peel or cook. (If you have frozen berries from January, you should be in the clear as this outbreak likely started in May.)

"Cooking food to an internal temperature of 158°F is the only thing known to kill Cyclospora. This means sautéing raw spinach for about 1.5 minutes. (Turn your salad into a stir fry!)

"Microwaving doesn't work as well because heat spreads unevenly; research shows 45 seconds wasn't enough to kill Cyclospora, so go longer and check that every part, not just the surface, is steaming hot."

July 20, 2026 from Washington Post
"FDA retracts test result but still links Taylor Farms lettuce to cyclosporiasis
The FDA said a sample of shredded iceberg lettuce showed a false positive, but the sample was not part of the original recall."

July 20, 2026 Food Safety Tech

"Lettuce is Not The Only Cyclosporiasis Outbreak Being Investigated.
New York City health officials traced a much smaller cyclosporiasis outbreak in April, one of multiple case clusters the city’s epidemiologists have pursued this year, led to cilantro."

Ed. note: This posting is for information purposes only. The editor does not know if the recalled products are certified as kosher.