One Mexico Lettuce Plant, 7,000 Sick: The Centralized Supply Chain Problem

A Cyclospora parasite outbreak sickened nearly 7,000 Americans across 27 states. The source: 5-pound bags of pre-shredded iceberg lettuce from a single Taylor Farms facility in Guanajuato, Mexico, distributed to Taco Bell locations nationwide. Contamination at one processing point reached consumers across dozens of states at once — the central risk of a concentrated supply chain.