This Is Why Our Fresh Produce Keeps Making Us Sick

Mr. Lytton is a law professor at Georgia State University and the author of “Outbreak: Foodborne Illness and the Struggle for Food Safety.”

There’s a gruesome food-borne illness going around this summer that can last for weeks and cause severe cramps, nausea and diarrhea. Public health officials have reported more than 8,000 cases of the parasitic infection known as cyclosporiasis and initially concluded that iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms was the source of many of them. On Sunday, the Food and Drug Administration said it had mistakenly confirmed Taylor Farms as the supplier.

Annual reported cyclosporiasis cases in the United States

Federal public health officials are still searching for the sources of the outbreaks.

Note: Data as of July 17, 2026. Dashed line represents cases reported by........

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