Tip of the iceberg
Taylor Farms lettuce reaches stores, restaurants worldwide
CYCLOSPORA OUTBREAK
Taylor Farms produces much of the lettuce sold in America's supermarkets and fast food restaurants.
Right now, many consumers would like to know which ones.
Taylor Farms is in the news because of a historic outbreak of cyclosporiasis, the "explosive diarrhea" disease, with cases surging across more than 30 states in recent weeks.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said as of July 19, there are no confirmed positive results for samples of Taylor Farms lettuce tested for Cyclospora. On July 18, the FDA said a lettuce sample from Taylor Farms tested positive for Cyclospora. The agency later said that test was a false positive.
The FDA said it is still working with Taylor Farms to trace the source of the outbreak.
Taylor Farms on July 17 issued a voluntary recall of iceberg lettuce products as a result of the outbreak and investigation, which initially connected the illnesses to lettuce from Taylor Farms de Mexico sold, in part, through Taco Bell locations in five states.
The FDA instructed Americans not to eat some of the iceberg lettuce produced by Taylor Farms.
Consumers might have a hard time following that directive: It's hard to tell the exact provenance of the lettuce in a restaurant item.
Here's a primer on Taylor Farms and its global reach.
How big is Taylor Farms?
Taylor Farms is the "leading global producer of salads and healthy fresh foods," according to its website, with facilities in the U.S., Mexico, Canada and Europe.
The company has $7 billion in revenues and more than 25,000 employees and 30 processing facilities, according to a spring profile in UC Berkeley Haas Magazine.
"Operating across retail, foodservice, and prepared foods, Taylor Farms partners with every major retail group, club store, and quick-service restaurant chain in the country," the profile says.
What about restaurants?
That question is trickier to answer.
We know Taco Bell served Taylor Farms lettuce because of the much-discussed recall.
Chipotle also serves Taylor Farms produce, a company official confirmed July 20.
"We are continuing to follow the Cyclospora investigation very closely, and at this time, we don't believe the ingredients we source are associated," said Laurie Schalow, chief corporate affairs and food safety officer at Chipotle.
The Taylor Farms website doesn't offer a full list of chain restaurants that serve its lettuce this year.
We do know which chains have served Taylor Farms produce in the past, thanks to a 2014 report from Capital & Main and The Huffington Post.
That list includes McDonald's, Subway, KFC, Long John Silver's and Pizza Hut, as well as Darden Restaurants, whose brands include Olive Garden.
Has Taylor Farms had previous recalls?
Yes, though some past recalls have involved mislabeled products rather than potential pathogens.
A few examples: „
â– In 2025, Taylor Farms recalled salad kits sold in 25 states over the presence of "undeclared ingredients."
■„ In 2024, the company was involved in the removal of Quarter Pounders from McDonald's menus in many restaurants over potential E. coli contamination in raw onions.
■„ In 2019, Taylor Farms recalled about 2,100 pounds of mislabeled products that contained "a known allergen." „
â– In 2017, Taylor Farms recalled about 6,630 pounds of chicken and pork salad products possibly tainted with listeria monocytogenes.
â– In 2013, The New York Times reported that Taylor Farms had "an unusual number of voluntary recalls" involving potentially tainted products.
Company officials ascribed the volume of recalls to the company's scale.
"Just if you do the sheer math, our recalls relative to our size are fewer than anybody else," said Bruce Taylor, chief executive of Taylor Farms, speaking to the Times.
What is the Taylor Farms story?
The company was founded in 1995 by Taylor, a third-generation lettuce grower in California's Salinas Valley, and some partners. It grew into the leading producer of salads and other healthful fare, according to the Berkeley profile.
Around 2007, Taylor partnered with the Produce Marketing Association to create a Center for Produce Safety, working with other growers to standardize food-safety practices.
In 2009, Taylor Farms introduced "SmartWash Solutions," which the Berkeley profile termed "a revolutionary wash-water monitoring system to sanitize and prevent microbial cross contamination."
In 2012, the company entered the supermarket industry with "the first-ever branded prepackaged chopped salads with dressings and condiments," according to the profile.
According to a 2026 report in the Western Farm Press, Taylor Farms revolutionized its industry "by turning it into a fixed-price business that offered growers a guaranteed profit while providing customers a consistent supply."
Which supermarkets sell the lettuce?
Many. Visit the company's Find-a-Product page and type in your location, and you'll see a "Who's Who" of American supermarkets and big-box retailers that carry Taylor Farms salad kits and other products. The list includes Walmart, Target, Safeway, Whole Foods, Meijer, Vons, Food4Less, H-E-B, Sprouts, Fry's, Albertsons and Kroger.
