Taco Bell Pulls Lettuce Nationwide Amid Multistate Cyclospora Outbreak

Federal investigators are probing a supplier's iceberg lettuce as a possible source of the parasite sickening hundreds of Americans.

Taco Bell said Thursday it is removing lettuce supplied by one grower from restaurants nationwide "out of an abundance of caution" after federal officials linked the product to an outbreak of cyclosporiasis, a parasitic infection that causes severe diarrhea, according to the BBC.

The lettuce came from Taylor Farms, which the Washington Examiner reported has been tied to the outbreak. The Food and Drug Administration and Michigan health officials had already opened an investigation into iceberg lettuce supplied to the fast-food chain before Taylor Farms' link to the outbreak was reported Thursday evening, the Washington Examiner said, citing the Washington Post.

The Hill reported Taco Bell's decision followed "ongoing conversations with public health officials" about the investigation, quoting part of the company's statement.

The scale of the outbreak was described differently across reports. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said more than 400 people have been sickened, according to Fox News, which said the outbreak spans four states, while the Washington Examiner reported the outbreak has affected 34 states. Investigators have not yet pinpointed the specific contaminated food responsible, Fox News reported. The White House addressed the growing outbreak this week as the case count continued to climb, according to Fox News.

— Compiled from reporting by the BBC, the Hill, Fox News and the Washington Examiner.