Iceberg Lettuce Cyclospora Outbreak Ends as the Largest on US Record with 12,883 Illnesses and Two Deaths

Salads safe to eat following cyclospora outbreak

It’s once again safe to eat salads, as the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that the cyclospora outbreak involving iceberg lettuce, which sickened people in 21 states including Kentucky, is now officially over.

Iceberg Lettuce Cyclospora Outbreak Ends as the Largest on US Record with 12,883 Illnesses and Two Deaths

The CDC declared the iceberg lettuce Cyclospora outbreak over at 12,883 illnesses and 570 hospitalizations. The FDA investigation into the contamination remains open.

As the cyclospora outbreak shows, gaps in the food safety system put everyone at risk.

Lettuce needs little introduction in Monterey County—the nickname “Salad Bowl of the World” was given to this county for good reason. More than half of the nation’s supply of lettuce is grown right here in the Salinas Valley along with…

Different Cyclospora Numbers Are All Correct: 33,548, 19,595 and 12,883. Here Is What Each One Counts, Why 6,712 People Are Attributed to Nothing, and Why the Real Number Is Closer to 1,600,000.

Cyclosporiasis is the intestinal illness caused by Cyclospora cayetanensis, a parasite that reaches produce when human waste reaches a field or the water running through it. This summer it caused the largest outbreak of its kind in American history. Depending on which page you open, this summer either sickened 12,883 people, 19,595, or 33,548. Every one...