Taylor Farms – the food supplier linked to a rampant outbreak of cyclospora – is recalling more than a dozen food items containing jalapeños, like salsa and guacamole, from major grocery chains over a separate string of salmonella illnesses.
The Salinas, Calif.-based food distributor announced Sunday it is pulling products from shelves that contain jalapeño peppers, including salsas, guacamoles, burritos, taco dips and shrimp salads.
The recalled products were sent to distribution centers across more than two dozen states, including New York, and sold at major retailers like Hannaford, Kroger, Stop & Shop, Target, Trader Joe’s, Walmart and Whole Foods.
A multistate salmonella outbreak – which has sickened at least 345 people and led to 36 hospitalizations – has been linked to fresh jalapeños from a farmer in Sinaloa, Mexico, that were distributed by Coast Citrus Distributors.
Taylor Farms said Sunday that it was “no longer” sourcing fresh jalapeños from that same farmer and that it is unaware of any reported illnesses linked to its recalled prepared food items.
Last month, federal health officials tied a widespread outbreak of cyclospora – an explosive diarrhea-causing parasite – to iceberg lettuce from Mexico supplied by Taylor Farms.
Taco Bell is the only major national restaurant chain to be linked to the outbreak, though it has already recalled the contaminated products and started to see sales bounce back.
An estimated 20,000 people have been sickened with cyclosporiasis, hundreds have been hospitalized and there have been at least two deaths, according to the CDC.
The recalls have stoked fears of how consolidation in the food industry can raise the odds of outbreaks and left restaurant chains scrambling to win back diners who are still wary of lettuce and other fresh produce.
Sweetgreen, Chipotle and QDOBA, a Mexican fast-food restaurant chain, have pulled Coast Citrus jalapeños from hundreds of store locations following the recall.
Many restaurants have already seen the dampened demand for lettuce take a bite out of their earnings.
Sweetgreen slashed its full-year earnings forecast, saying diners are avoiding its “slop bowl” salads over fears of the cyclospora outbreak.
Chipotle said its sales weakened about 2% around the time of the outbreak in the second half of July.
Salad and Go filed for bankruptcy and announced plans to close all of its locations, saying the cyclospora outbreak “compounded” challenges it was already facing.
Cyclospora is a microscopic parasite that is typically transmitted when food or water is contaminated with infected feces, and it can cause an intestinal illness called cyclosporiasis – characterized by watery diarrhea, stomach cramps, nausea, bloating and gas.
Salmonella is another type of bacteria that can cause a foodborne illness with symptoms like diarrhea, fever and cramps.
Young children, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems are more likely to have serious infections in both cases, according to food safety regulators.
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