Taco Bell locations remove ingredients amid cyclosporiasis outbreak

Taco Bell has removed ingredients from some stores in what the fast food chain said was a precautionary move as thousands of people have been infected with the gastrointestinal illness cyclosporiasis.

The restaurant chain didn’t identify locations where it has pared down ingredients ​or where menu items were affected. The Detroit Free Press reported several metro Detroit locations stopped selling lettuce and cilantro.

In a statement to USA TODAY, Taco Bell Corp. said ⁠it has “voluntarily and temporarily removed limited ingredients at select restaurants as a precautionary measure. We will continue to ‌closely monitor the situation and follow the guidance ​of public health authorities.”

Taco Bell said public health officials have not “confirmed a link to Taco Bell or any specific ingredient, supplier, restaurant or retailer.”

In Brooklyn, major grocery stores and fast-food chains, including Taco Bell, had not removed products on July 14, ⁠according to Reuters.

Cyclosporiasis, or the disease caused by the ‌parasite Cyclospora cayetanensis, has been confirmed in ‌1,645 cases as of July 13 and is under investigation in more than 5,100 additional cases, according to data from the Centers for ⁠Disease Control and Prevention. Confirmed or suspected cases have been reported in 34 states, CDC officials said.

The CDC also said testing and other evidence indicates ‌a cluster of cases in four ‌states − Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky − are likely linked. However, the nation’s foremost public health agency hasn’t publicly identified a common supplier, distributor or business.

The parasitic infection ⁠can cause watery or explosive diarrhea, cramping, nausea, fatigue and other symptoms.

Michigan ​has been hit particularly hard ⁠by ​the outbreak with more than 2,600 cases as of July 13, according to the state’s Department of Health and Human Services.

State health officials identified lettuce or salad greens as potential sources but said other food items could ⁠not be ruled out.

When asked specifically about Taco Bell, the FDA’s Acting Deputy Commissioner for Food Donald Prater said the agency “is continuing its traceback investigation on multiple produce items, also ⁠including locations that are reported by the case patients before they became sick.”

State and local health department investigators and the Food and Drug Administration are collecting information on where, when and what infected individuals ate. That information ⁠is analyzed along with lab testing ‌data, CDC officials said.

“Right now we don’t have a specific ​source identified, ‌and we’re working very hard to continue collecting and analyzing those data,” Gwen ​Biggerstaff, deputy director of CDC’s division of foodborne, waterborne and environmental diseases, said on July 14.