Taco Bell lettuce linked to explosive diarrhea outbreak
Federal health officials say lettuce served at Taco Bell restaurants has been linked to an outbreak of stomach-distressing parasitic infections.
Taco Bell will be offering another $1 lettuce-free option on July 28, following the success of last week’s $1 Enchilito promotion and the ongoing ancyclosporosis outbreak.
Taco Bell announced in a social media post that it will be selling Mexican pizza for $1 at participating locations. The fast-food chain’s Mexican pizza consists of beef and beans sandwiched between two flour tortillas and topped with Mexican pizza sauce, cheese, and diced tomatoes. Depending on your location, it typically costs between $5.39 and $6.99.
Here’s what you need to know about Taco Bell’s $1 Mexican Pizza promotion.
$1 Mexican pizza for one day only
Taco Bell announced that participating locations will be selling Mexican pizza menu items for $1 until July 28th at 11:59pm PT. This promotion follows a similar $1 enchirito offer that became available on July 22nd.
Customers can take advantage of the $1 sale in-store or through the app.
“Do the Lord’s work”
Taco Bell’s social media posts did not link the offer to the ongoing cyst disease outbreak. However, the fast-food chain has recently seen a sharp decline in foot traffic due to lettuce, USA TODAY previously reported.
Judging by the comments on the company’s Instagram posts, the $1 promotion may be what’s bringing people back.
“Thank you for doing the Lord’s work!!” one commenter wrote. One person described the news as “the best day ever”, while another said: “Great, give me 14.”
This promotion is limited to one Mexican pizza per order.
Taco Bell’s customer traffic declines
USA TODAY reported last week that the number of visitors to Taco Bell restaurants nationwide was down more than 30% compared to the chain’s average footfall each Friday from January 1 to July 6 of this year, citing data from Placer.ai, a platform that tracks foot traffic using data from cameras and mobile devices.
Taco Bell announced on July 17 that it has removed Taylor Farms lettuce from its food products after the Food and Drug Administration linked it to an ongoing outbreak of parasitic infections.
In a statement shared with USA TODAY on July 27, Taco Bell said it had “completed the removal of the affected Taylor Farms lettuce from our restaurants,” adding, “Based on ongoing conversations with public health officials and out of an abundance of caution, Taco Bell worked quickly to voluntarily remove the product from our restaurants and the affected ingredients have been removed from our supply chain nationwide.”
Taco Bell did not immediately provide additional information when asked about the $1 promotion.
What’s the latest information on cystospermia?
On July 24, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that the cyclosporiasis outbreak has spread to nine states as the intestinal disease, which causes weeks of severe “explosive” diarrhea, continues to afflict thousands of Americans and the number of infections continues to rise.
According to the CDC, more than 11,500 cases of cyclosporiasis have been reported this season. There are 4,173 confirmed cases, but health officials are still evaluating about 7,400 additional reports to determine whether these illnesses are related to exposure within the U.S. food supply.
The nine states specifically linked to the outbreak are Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. According to the CDC, cases have been reported in 41 states. However, federal data lags behind state data.
The CDC said on July 24: “This outbreak may not be confined to states with known disease outbreaks, and the actual number of cases is likely much higher than reported because many people recover without seeking medical care and are not tested for Cyclospora.”
USA TODAY gathered numbers directly from several state health departments to show where reported cyclosporosis cases are concentrated and which regions are hardest hit.
Contributions: Dian Zhang, Stephen J. Beard, Ramon Padilla, Greta Cross, Melina Khan, Mike Snider / USA TODAY
Drew Pittock covers trending news from around the country for USA TODAY. He can be reached at DPittock@usatodayco.com.
