Why Lettuce Is Always Making People Sick
Leafy greens, particularly lettuce, are frequently linked to foodborne illness outbreaks in the United States. Experts suggest that high consumption rates and the processing of mixed greens in large facilities increase the risk of widespread contamination.
Why it matters
Understanding the systemic risks in the food supply chain is essential for public health and safety, especially as produce-related illnesses become more common.
Salad is usually synonymous with healthy eating. Except now, as the US grapples with an expanding outbreak of cyclosporiasis that’s sickened more than 7,100 people in Michigan alone, likely caused by iceberg lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms.
In fact, leafy greens are frequently implicated in instances of foodborne illness. There was a 2022 multistate E. coli outbreak tied to romaine served on Wendy’s sandwiches and 173 cases of norovirus linked to Illinois eatery D.C. Cobb’s. In 2021, BrightFarms recalled packaged salad greens sold in several states after 31 people got Salmonella. And in 2019, a total of 167 people were infected with E. Coli after eating consuming romaine harvested from the Salinas Valley region in California. This isn't even the first cyclospora outbreak linked to lettuce: In 2020, Fresh Express salad kits were linked to more than 700 cases of people afflicted with the parasite.
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