The Cyclospora Mystery: How Human Poop Got on So Much Lettuce

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<p>U.S. health officials linked six more states to what’s now the largest outbreak of cyclospora in American history — an outbreak that has contributed to at least two deaths, sickened thousands of people and left the rest of us increasingly scared of salad.</p> <p>Today, Christina Jewett and Caroline Hopkins Legaspi, two public health reporters who have covered the parasite for The New York Times, discuss what’s been learned about where it comes from, how it spread so quickly and why our food safety system seems to be powerless to stop it.</p> <p>Guest: </p> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/christina-jewett" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Christina Jewett</strong></a>, covers the Food and Drug Administration for The New York Times.</li> <li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/caroline-hopkins-legaspi" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Caroline Hopkins Legaspi</strong></a>, a health reporter focusing on nutrition and sleep for The New York Times.</li> </ul> <p>Background reading: </p> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/17/business/cyclospora-taylor-farms-lettuce.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Taco Bell and the food distributor Sysco have pulled Taylor Farms lettuce</a> from supply chains after it was linked to cyclosporiasis.</li> <li>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/04/well/eat/cdc-cyclospora-outbreak-15-states.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">linked six more states to the cyclospora outbreak associated with iceberg lettuce.</a></li> </ul> <p>Photo: Michelle V. Agins / The New York Times</p> <p>For more information on today’s episode, visit <a href="http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily" rel="noopener noreferrer">nytimes.com/thedaily</a>. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. </p> <p><p>Subscribe today at <a href="http://nytimes.com/podcasts">nytimes.com/podcasts</a> or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher">https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher</a>. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.</p></p><br/> <p>Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.</p>