Cyclospora Outbreak’s Next Victim Might Be Growers Who Weren’t Involved

Food safety outbreaks don’t end when the recalled product leaves the marketplace. Lettuce growers know that better than anyone. They’ve watched it happen before. After high-profile outbreaks involving spinach, romaine lettuce, cantaloupes, onions and other produce, many growers who had no connection to the source still saw orders slow as consumers grew wary of an entire commodity. The current Cyclospora outbreak appears to be following a familiar pattern.

Federal investigators continue to trace the outbreak to shredded iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says epidemiological evidence and traceback data continue to point to Taylor Farms de Mexico, even after an initially reported positive laboratory sample was later determined to be a false positive. Taylor Farms voluntarily recalled all iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico on July 17. FDA continues to advise consumers not to eat recalled products while the investigation continues.

From a food safety perspective, investigators remain focused on identifying exactly how contamination occurred and whether additional products may be involved.
From a grower’s perspective, another question has already emerged: How much damage will this do to the broader lettuce market?

Early signs suggest the answer may extend well beyond the recalled product. Reuters, citing NielsenIQ retail data, reported that fresh lettuce sales fell 9% in the week ending July 18 and 19% over the previous two-week period. Several restaurant chains also experienced declining customer traffic as news coverage expanded.

Those numbers don’t tell the whole story, however.

Many vegetable growers have lived through enough food-safety events to recognize what often happens next. Consumers rarely differentiate between one production region and another, one lettuce type and another, or one supply chain and another. A recall involving shredded iceberg lettuce can quickly become hesitation about ordering salads altogether.

That distinction matters because FDA emphasizes that the current outbreak is only one subset of Cyclospora illnesses being investigated nationally. The agency also expects confirmed outbreak totals to continue increasing over the coming weeks because it can take up to six weeks for investigators to determine whether an individual illness belongs to this outbreak. Rising case counts, therefore, do not necessarily indicate newly contaminated lettuce entering the marketplace. For growers, that means the marketing challenge can outlast the food-safety event itself. It also raises broader questions the industry has faced before.

Following previous produce outbreaks, growers invested heavily in new food-safety practices, expanded documentation requirements and additional mitigation measures. Many of those changes strengthened produce safety. Others were implemented while researchers were still working to understand exactly how contamination had occurred.

The current investigation may ultimately lead to another round of changes. What those changes look like—and whether they’re supported by emerging science—remains to be seen.

For now, FDA’s message remains straightforward: the traceback investigation continues to converge on shredded iceberg lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms de Mexico from central Mexico, despite the withdrawal of the earlier laboratory finding. The agency continues to advise consumers to avoid recalled products while the investigation proceeds.

For the rest of the lettuce industry, however, the larger concern may be economic rather than epidemiological.

History suggests that once consumer confidence begins to erode, rebuilding it can take considerably longer than removing a recalled product from the food supply.

In the coming days, American Vegetable Grower will examine what options remain when demand suddenly evaporates for a perfectly good crop, along with what this outbreak may mean for future food-safety expectations across the vegetable industry.