Lawsuits seek to shred Taylor Farms over ‘explosive diarrhea’ outbreak

By Jonathan Bilyk | Legal Newsline
The Center Square

(Legal Newsline) – Lawsuits have begun to land in courts across the country over the recent outbreak of “explosive diarrhea”-inducing bacterial contamination, beginning with lawsuits in Ohio federal court against owners of Taco Bell fast food restaurants, claiming lettuce used in their food products is at least partly to blame for the nationwide outbreak.

And now the legal actions have begun taking aim at lettuce and vegetables supplier Taylor Farms, including an action filed in San Jose federal court.

Since mid-June, thousands of Americans have been sickened by consuming food products allegedly contaminated by a bacteria known as Cyclospora caytanensis. Symptoms commonly associated with the resulting illness, known as Cyclosporiasis, include “explosive diarrhea,” nausea and vomiting, low-grade fever and other symptoms commonly associated with gastrointestinal illness. Symptoms can last days or even weeks in some cases.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and other federal regulators, the outbreak has officially sickened more than 1,600 people, primarily in Michigan.

However, according to published reports, state health departments have indicated a larger outbreak, potentially sickening more than 8,000 people, with the numbers continuing to climb.

On July 16, the CDC officially linked the outbreak, at least partially, to bagged, shredded lettuce consumed at certain Taco Bell restaurants in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia.

Within hours, trial lawyers had lodged lawsuits in Ohio federal court on behalf of people who claim to have come down with the sickness after eating food served by Taco Bell.

However, the second such lawsuit, filed on July 16 by attorneys with the firms of Marler Clark, of Bainbridge Island, Washington, and Darr Law, of Columbus, Ohio, also included counts against lettuce supplier Taylor Fresh Foods and its subsidiary, Taylor Farms.

Taylor Farms has been linked to the outbreak by federal regulators, as well.

In response to the CDC action, Taylor Farms announced on July 17 that the company was recalling from U.S. stores and restaurants all iceberg lettuce allegedly linked to the outbreak, which reportedly was produced at the company’s facilities in central Mexico.

In a statement, Taylor Farms asserted that “no Taylor Farms-branded salads or kits are associated with this outbreak” and “no Taylor Farms-branded salad kits contain iceberg lettuce.”

“As a family-owned company, we are deeply concerned for those who became ill, their families, and the Americans whose trust in the safety of fresh produce has been shaken,” Taylor Farms said in the statement.

But also on July 16, trial lawyers, filing in San Jose federal court, took a different tact in also suing Taylor Farms.

In that complaint, attorneys with the firms of Kaisey Law, of Santa Monica; Yagman PLLC, of Uniondale, New York; Reese LLP, of Minneapolis; and Laukaitis Law, of San Juan, Puerto Rico, filed a class action suit on behalf of potentially “hundreds of thousands or even millions” of people throughout the U.S.

The suit is being led by named plaintiffs Kait Gelbspan, of Los Angeles, and Victor Granados, of Seaford, New York.

Unlike the cases filed in Ohio and potentially many more personal injury complaints expected to follow, neither Gelbspan nor Granados claim to have fallen ill from consuming allegedly contaminated lettuce or other vegetables or fruit.

Rather, in their lawsuit, the plaintiffs and their lawyers claim Taylor Farms should be made to pay for allegedly not telling customers about the risk of Cyclosporiasis from their lettuce or other products, which allegedly misled them and other customers into continuing to purchase Taylor Farms products.

The lawsuit asserts the alleged failure by Taylor Farms to proactively warn consumers amounts to “deceptive, false, and misleading” marketing and potential violations of California’s state unfair competition law, among other counts.

The lawsuit seeks an unspecified payout from Taylor Fresh Foods on behalf of people across the U.S. “who bought (Taylor Farms) lettuce, shredded lettuce and leafy greens products” amid the outbreak in June and July 2026.