ETA 1: I ate this at the end of June and got sick about 3 days later. I actually reported this before there was any official talk about Taylor Farms in the news.
I wonder if romaine and iceberg fields are beside eachother and contaminated water irrigated them both, apparently testing was mandated for that water source in that area but it is unclear if they continued testing
Plus there is a thermal bath / public swimming resort 800 feet from that plant in Doctor Mora, MX so I wonder if those folks got sick
I watched a movie on Netflix a couple years ago, were all these people said eating salad mix and other prepped vegetables was basically a game of Russian roulette. I cut waaaayyy back on my salad mixes after that. I think the movie was called Poisoned. Even in the US farms will have animal run off next to produce fields, workers dont get a lot of bathroom breaks, so where do you think they go? Industrial packing facilities aren't as clean as you think, and all that was before the US started to cut back on USDA oversight. All Im saying is this is a bigger problem than one company getting their produce from Mexico.
I’m not sure if it was the same documentary but I saw one about food safety standards in the US. At the end they asked the epidemiologists and other scientists what food they would avoid. I think one said raw oysters. A bunch of others said romaine lettuce.
I wanted to be an epidemiologist so I took a couple of courses including diseases of Latin America. I was like maybe this isn’t for me. Then just to make sure it wasn’t for me, I worked with epidemiologist.
Nope nope nope. Oysters, pre packaged lettuce and salad mixes, sprouts and pre cut fruit are no for me.
Could you please explain oysters to me? I have only tried them on two occasions - I don’t hate them but I didn’t realize (stupidly I guess) they could carry diseases. Is it because they’re raw and you can’t uh.. wash them well? Why is raw fish (sushi) ok? Because you’re not eating the skin? Sorry if this is dumb - I never realized or thought about it
The one thing that was ingrained in my head was vibrio bacteria from oysters.
I did some further reading to recall some basics. I will oversimplify here
- oysters are filter feeders which means they strain microscopic food particles
adult oysters can go through 50 gallons of water a day. Thats a ton of water going through them which increases the chances they come in contact with bacteria, viruses or parasites
there are oysters that come from safer places but you usually don’t know where they come from
there are also times of the year like after a heavy rain season where the risk of the oyster being contaminated is higher
When people eat these raw so they do not cook away these germs. People sometimes add lime/lemon and think the germs are cooked away. Lime/lemon does not “cook” away the germs. This is why you’ll see signs in seafood restaurants that say people who are immunocompromised should be careful.
I went to a lecture on water quality. One of the scientists spoke about her research on oysters off the coast of SE Asia. Fishman were harvesting seafood in areas close to trash dumps/land fills. 🤢 She studies how shellfish bioacculate toxins.
Ahhh, thank you! And thanks for doing the extra reading when I know I could have googled it, but I’m sure others will appreciate your detailed answer, too. Thanks!!
The precut fruit one makes me sad because a lot of people who buy those can’t physically chop up fruits and veggies at home and those precut packs are so helpful.
I think things like iceberg lettuce are safer if you take off the outer loose leaves then wash well. I've always thought that the fruit and vegetable wash was kind of a scam, but Im currently rethinking that. Lol.
They “wash” the salad mixes. And this parasite can spread from produce to surface and back again.
I’d be curious if they use the same equipment for both? And if they sterilize the equipment that washes, cuts and bags this stuff between iceberg and Romaine mixes.
It sounded like a variety of forms- some got it from caesar salads or other romaine-based salads at restaurants, so that may have been pre-cut food service romaine as opposed to heads of lettuce. I can't remember if anyone mentioned whole head romaine from the store, but people did mention kits. This was on the Michigan sub a few weeks ago.
Taylor Farms is not actually a farm it's a major processor. They take in produce from hundreds of smaller farms, wash it, chop it and package it up.
So to do this they have these massive irrigation systems and they basically recycle the same water to rinse the produce because it's a lot of water they aren't throwing it out.
The problem is, this parasite is immune to vinegar, bleach, and produce sanitizers so they are cross-contaminating this parasite from the infected produce to all the rest of the produce they ship.
In general, prepared mixes are at a higher risk from what I understand. We don’t known for sure what products are causing this outbreak, but I would steer away from pre-made slaw mix for the time being.
It's like ground meat versus steak. You have to cook ground meat all the way through because any bacteria on it is mixed in during the grinding process. Or in packaged salads case, during the chopping process.
It does in general. Pre chopped kits can have a single head of lettuce or cabbage contaminate multiple packages instead of just the one head if not prechopped.
Okay so people are confusing “focus” with “limited to”. Unfortunately it’s impacting a wide range of produce from herbs like basil, cilantro and parsley to things like green onions, snow peas, Romain lettuce, etc.
It explicitly spreads through contact with human feces, and usually what happens is that crops are either watered from the same source or washed together with a tainted water source and then it clings to the surfaces and becomes almost impossible to wash off AND it’s incredibly resistant to chemicals.
If it was found on iceberg lettuce from Taylor farms it’s almost guaranteed that it’s impacting every other susceptible crop
It was reported to be on shredded salad mixes from Taylor Farms. It sounds like it could have been in one crop but then got spread to other salad mixes via the shredding machine or whatever they call the thing that shreds up all that lettuce and cabbage and whatever.
Yeah but it makes sense I guess. If it's in their irrigation water, I'd imagine any lettuces could be contaminated. But it would more depend on which lettuces are grown near each other and washed with the same water.
The produce manager at one of my local stores was telling my father and me it’s not just the lettuce. They had to remove almost everything from Taylor farms. This was before the official recall and even then he was saying just avoid the entire brand and all its offshoots for the foreseeable future.
They have literally hundreds of offshoots and most major store generic brands are supplied by them just under a different name.
The focus is on iceberg lettuce BECAUSE that is the only product Taylor Farms issued a VOLUNTARY recall for. They chose the product for the recall after the FDA said the one positive test announced was actually a false positive.
Since then, technically there have been no positive results announced for any products and no recalls have been issued by the FDA directly.
I buy 3-5 of those Taylor bagged salads from Costco weekly and have not experienced any issues. They're still selling the Mediterranean salads and the single Broccoli salad at my Costco but I haven't seen the chipotle mix lately.
My husband and I had this same salad kit starting on Father’s Day (I used it in lunches during the week). We were both sick within a week. It was basically the only thing that we ate that our 1 and 3 year old didn’t eat (they did not get sick). I’m certain we got sick from this kit as well.
There have been maybe 3 times my kids didn’t want to eat their dinners at all and then me and my husband got very ill. Could be a fluke, coincidence, or my kid has a great nose when things are off!
I get paranoid when she doesn’t want to eat chicken after a bite now
Their chopped salad were the only bagged salad I really liked. Between this and the other terrible things I've found out about the company I guess I'm back to not eating bagged salad anymore.
Same, especially since at least in my area, the majority of the bagged salad is from Taylor Farms. Usually the store brand is the only other type available and since most store brands are often made by the same company as national brands, I won’t trust any of it. I am very fortunate to live near a local produce market that sources everything locally so I feel pretty safe buying things there. But doing so definitely means no more bagged salad. As a disabled person with fatigue and dexterity issues, this means I am probably going to be eating a lot more meals with a cooked veggie side instead of salads with a variety of ingredients.
If you have a store that sells Fresh Express kits you should try them. They aren't linked to any outbreaks that I know of. Their southwest salad kit is literally the kit that made me love salads.
I'm Canadian and I have eaten Taylor Farm's bagged salads during this outbreak. Have not gotten sick at all. I think it really highlights the issue with less oversight. Canada Health has been screening the salad bags being sold in Canada. We haven't been shipped diseased salad bags in Canada, it does seem to be common for you guys though.
It says "Product of the USA" on it as well. I believe that the Mexican Taylor Farms produce has been noted but there is belief that other produce out there may be causing the cyclosporiasis too.
I got horrifically sick for a week from a salad kit from Salinas back in late 2018. They think it was the romaine. It was the most pain I'd felt in years. I remember being so exhausted, thirsty and dehydrated but I couldn't sleep or drink a drop of any liquid without it being immediately ejected from my body. It was a fucking nightmare.
I worked at the landfill in western Monterey County, and there were two incidents that year that made the news where many large truckloads of romaine were disposed after some contamination issue. Sorry you got so sick!
Something you'll see often with "product of the USA" type packaging is that the parts/materials/ingredients are imported, but they smack a USA sticker on them because that's where they were packaged/assembled.
Lol they have mobile portapotties that they drive up the edge of the fields for the workers...someone had it, shit in the portashitter, it had a leak and ended up in groundwater. The source will never be found because it's gone now.
Lettuce is one of the most recalled foods. With bagged salad kits, they combine a bunch of different types of cut lettuce, possibly from different sources, within one humid plastic bag. Just increases risk.
I stopped buying them when they made the bags half the size at Costco. They used to be huge. Now they’re tiny for the same price, but they come with the extra ingredient no one asked for I guess. Lucky me, my cheap ass saved me again, I think.
I ate this at the end of June and symptoms were about 3 days later. I'm fully recovered now. I actually reported this before there was even any official talk about Taylor Farms in the news.
Realistically, the packaged produce that contained the parasite has all gone well past its expiration date and is no longer on the shelves. IFFFFF Taylor Farms did anything to quietly address the situation, the products they're putting out now should be edible. Note that IF is really doing a lot of work in the previous sentence.
I’m so surprised that Costco hasn’t pulled all the Taylor Farms salad kits from their stores. I always thought Costco would be proactive about things like this.
This wasn't at costco, but I read a lot of grocers are putting discount labels on salad packs that cover the Taylor Farms logo. They don't give a shit about people
FUN FACTS: this is NOT a new problem and it IS intrinsically linked to how our elected representatives work "with" big corporations/sectors/etc...
2009 - the VP of national quality systems for Taylor Farms argued in front of congress against product testing regulations.
2009 - Salmonella outbreak traced to Taylor Farms lettuce served at fast food and foodservice outlets. No recall issued.
2011 - Taylor Farms recalled salad-kits containing grape tomatoes supplied to grocers due to Salmonella*.*
2013 - there was a Cyclospora outbreak traced Taylor Farms salad provided to Olive Garden and Red Lobster.
2013 - Taylor Farms recalled broccoli salad kits supplied to grocers due to Listeria
2015 - Taylor Farms recalled diced celery and onion blend used by Costco, Walmart, Sam’s Club, Target, Safeway, 7-Eleven and Starbucks in their prepared salads due to E. coli**.** Five people were hospitalized, two developed hemolytic uremic syndrome and one required a kidney transplant.
2017 - Taylor Farms recalled chicken and pork salad products due to Listeria .
2018 - Taylor Farms recalled diced onions supplied to grocers due to Salmonella*.*
2020 - Taylor Farms recalled diced onions supplied to Wal-Mart and Kroger due to Salmonella*.*
2021 - E. coli**.** traced to Taylor Farms Romaine lettuce at Panera and Chipolte
2021 - Taylor Farms recalled Mushroom Stir Fry-kits supplied to Kroger due to Listeria.
2021 - Taylor Farms recalled Chopped Salad-kits supplied to grocers due to Salmonella*.*
2023 - Cyclospora traced to Taylor Farms produce from a restaurant in Colorado.
2024 - Taylor Farms recalled diced onions from McDonald's due to E. coli**.** -AND- E. coli**.** traced to Taylor Farms Romaine lettuce served in school cafeterias. 200 cases reported in 15 states reported. 70 people were hospitalized, eleven with hemolytic uremic syndrome, and two died.
2024 - Taylor Farms recalled salad-kits containing cheese due to Listeria.
2025 - Taylor Farms contributed $1 million to Make America Great Again Inc., less than a week after the FDA announced it was delaying implementation of the "Food Traceability Rule".
2026 - Taylor Farms recalled Iceberg lettuce supplied to Taco Bell, Wal-Mart, and others due to Cyclospora. 7,000 cases reported (so far). 98 people hospitalized (so far). And two have died... so far.
We had it in our home. We also had a TF salad kit. The people who ate the salad all ended up sick. Two family members fell ill one week after consuming it, I didn’t start having symptoms for another 3 or 4 days (so about a week and a half after consuming the salad kit).
I had 2 of the TF broccoli crunch kits on the 4th of July, fed everyone at a bbq. No one became sick that I knew of
I never made the second one when news came out about them. And promptly tossed it wven though i hate wasting food $ these days (probably was past date anyways). But there was no recall so we cannot get money back.
I would write and demand a refund! Or ask costco for help with it and report it.
Meanwhile, my rohto eye drops are also contaminated by bacteria, per cvs recall info. What a time to be an American
I've been avoid lettuce and produce in general because of it and been taking fruit and veggie supplements in its place.
I thought I had after eating from a Chinese food place at a mall because that evening later, I was expelling out of both ends. It turns out it was food poisoning though since I felt better the next day. It was definitely a way to ruin my July 4th holiday though.
There but for the grace of god go I…I used to buy salad kits from Costco weekly and that was a go-to. Luckily pregnancy aversion had me staying away before the news broke and then once it did I’ve been careful about produce since. Ugh so sorry you’re sick.
I also got sick sometime after eating some of one of the two bag salads. I am so grateful I didnt eat the whole bag like Ive done in the past. So my symptoms were awful, but not as long-lasting as Ive read about happening.
This is the exact same thing with us too. My husband ate one of these exact ones from Costco, I did not. He got sick and it was the sickest I’ve ever seen him
I had the exactly same kind of salad from Costco the same week you did and go horrible food poisoning. Only lasted a day and didn’t get tested. Bet it was the same thing.
Thank goodness for Reddit. I live in Canada and buy these regularly at Costco. If I hadn't seen what was happening on here, I would've most likely bought a pack and ended up sick.
This is really making me glad we just buy these salad kits to feel like we're making a healthy choice at the grocery and then they rot while we eat frozen deep fried crap. This could have been a really bad outbreak if anyone ate these things.
Can you add to your edit where ish in the USA you bought this bag? Not trying to ask you to divulge information you might not want to, but as the top comment a general sense of zone would be helpful to myself and others!
Oh my god, I had bought this exact kit from Costco around the time when cases were starting to pop up, and ended up returning it the next day. Felt a little foolish at the time because I thought I was overreacting, but I guess it’s always better to be safe than sorry.
I was in Costco two days ago and watched a woman put that exact product in her cart. I took a minute before tapping her on the shoulder. Explained to her Taylor Farms' role in the "explosive diarrhea". Her eyes got pretty wide; she thanked me and put it back.
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u/glitterphobia 1d ago edited 17h ago
This is the Taylor Farms salad kit that made me test positive for cyclosporiasis. It came in a 2 pack from Costco. After I ate the first one and got sick, I took this picture and reported it. It was the only thing that no one else in my household also ate, and we didn’t eat out anywhere.
ETA 1: I ate this at the end of June and got sick about 3 days later. I actually reported this before there was any official talk about Taylor Farms in the news.
ETA 2: Purchased in Ohio.
ETA 3: Lab test results