A microscopic parasite has traced its way from irrigated fields in Mexico through a California supplier's distribution chain to fast food restaurants across the American Midwest, sickening thousands and shattering the nation's previous records for cyclospora outbreaks. Federal health officials have named shredded iceberg lettuce served at Taco Bell locations in five states as the confirmed source, while the investigation continues to ask whether the contamination reaches further. This moment sits within a longer story of industrial food supply vulnerability — one in which a single supplier, a
CDC identifies Mexican lettuce from Taco Bell as cyclospora outbreak source
Over 100 people hospitalized in Michigan and dozens more in other states; no deaths reported but widespread illness across 30+ states affecting thousands.