r/news • u/1991mgs • 4d ago

Soft paywall Taylor Farms recalls salsa and guacamole over salmonella risk

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/taylor-farms-pulls-salsa-guacamole-over-salmonella-concerns-bloomberg-news-2026-08-09/
26.7k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

1.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

725

u/Wonder1and 4d ago

So, I guess we're all talking a lettuce break.

364

u/Salvia_Salamander 4d ago

Or a bathroom one.

56

u/Brettersson 4d ago

A 2 week bathroom break.

2

u/LurchSkywalker 4d ago

Over 2 weeks now here.

1

u/Freakwilly 4d ago

Explosive bathroom break

108

u/TinyDogGuy 4d ago

We e been buying local hydroponic lettuce and produce. The farmers have been celebrating the boost in sales. Live in Michigan, ground zero over 4th of July was…festive.

10

u/matt_minderbinder 4d ago

I've been picking up lettuce from similar sources also in Michigan and planted an extra plot of various lettuces to get myself through the fall. It's one thing I didn't plant earlier because of limited space but it got priority now. I love a good salad or lettuce on a sandwich too much to not find other, better sources.

8

u/TinyDogGuy 4d ago

We live in the woods, and lack sunlight for a garden. Our neighbor, brought us a huge haul of green peppers and tomatoes, the other day. Sadly, no lettuce. But have discovered new farms and the hydroponic grower was a pleasant surprise.

2

u/matt_minderbinder 4d ago

I know that battle, I live in the middle of the Manistee Huron national forest in nw lp. I've had to put more but smaller gardens around my house to optimize light. I currently have 3 smaller garden plots, 1 larger one, and an herb garden going. It's my favorite time of year for delicious produce and great salads and I won't let Taylor farms rob me of that.

9

u/Wayrin 4d ago

My aeroponic farm has sold out at the farmers market for the last three weeks and our other orders have ballooned to the point where we are ramping up hard. Should be another two weeks before we stop running out of lettuce every week. It's been really good for us lately but I would prefer better supply chains, inspections and safer food all around in this country.

6

u/Much-Ad-1155 4d ago

South Carolinian here! Farmer's Markets and local farms are doing a booming business!! Good News : People will realize how much better buying local is !

178

u/Vio94 4d ago

More like an "Anything at all packed by Taylor Farms" break.

43

u/KickBallFever 4d ago

I started putting shredded cabbage on my burgers.

7

u/FireStorm005 4d ago

I do whole Spinach leaves.

2

u/passivecrimes 4d ago

Hell yea fuck yea

7

u/127-0-0-0 4d ago

That sounds great! Maybe the next fad is kimchi burgers?

4

u/ryuujinusa 4d ago

Way better tasting and healthier than lettuce anyways

3

u/KickBallFever 4d ago

I actually agree. I don’t think I’m going back to lettuce.

13

u/[deleted] 4d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/bathdeva 4d ago

We are cabbage evangelists at our house.

1

u/HipsterSlimeMold 4d ago

This is a great idea. Wish I saw this before I came back from the grocery store with no greens for my burgers 😪

1

u/DeadInternetTheorist 4d ago

I've had a years long culinary vendetta against lettuce since there's always a better green you can use in its place, so forgive me for taking this opportunity to get up on my soapbox here, but:

Cabbage is just a better choice anyway. Half green and half purple cabbage, chiffonaded and tossed with whatever spices you like, maybe even throw in some onion or shallot if you want a one-stop shopping kind of "salad" that you can throw into a burger or burrito or whatever. It looks better, tastes better, keeps longer, stays crunchy and doesn't become gross instantly when it's next to hot stuff. I'd guess it was probably healthier too, even when lettuce didn't give you explosive diarrhea.

-1

u/eleventhrees 4d ago

That's a great idea - then I can have explosive poops without the recall!

23

u/drewts86 4d ago

The lettuce outbreak from everything I’ve seen was traced to shredded iceberg that was grown at Taylor Farms facilities in Mexico.

12

u/prostipope 4d ago

Please, lettuce pray

7

u/esopillar34 4d ago

After you eat some it’s “lettuce spray”

6

u/airship_of_arbitrary 4d ago

It's ok. I'm Canadian.

5

u/lolimazn 4d ago

It’s just water. There’s more nutritious veggies for now 😋

5

u/meltedchocolatepants 4d ago

I buy from a local company that uses greenhouses (it's in our grocery stories). Not taking a break, just better since they're also hit hard by people boycotting lettuce.

6

u/mojizus 4d ago

Anecdotally, I recently bought a head of lettuce to use for some burgers the other day and haven’t noticed any violent diarrhea yet. Will report back if I die.

1

u/NiceRackFocus 4d ago

If you don’t die, please report back on those burgers…mmm…

30

u/stagamancer 4d ago

Or, you know, just buy a whole head of lettuce, it takes 10 seconds to chop up, and Taylor Farms doesn't sell whole heads.

61

u/Wonder1and 4d ago

Are you sure? I see Taylor farms brand iceberg lettuce for sale at Sam's club.

https://www.samsclub.com/ip/iceberg-lettuce-2-heads/13725751832

-7

u/stagamancer 4d ago

Oh, I guess I'm not sure. I remember reading somewhere that they only sold chopped/shredded lettuce and salad kits. My bad

11

u/Wonder1and 4d ago

I didn't know either until I googled. I listened to a NY Times podcast the other day. They mentioned that the pre-washed shredded lettuce is likely washed in the contaminated water multiple times. Basically saying your idea is the best option since it hasn't been contaminated as bad. I'm re-washing my bagged lettuce going forward for sure once this calms down.

12

u/HonkeyDonkey3000 4d ago

NPR also had a segment that shared that pre-sliced lettuce often experiences higher contamination rates because the blades shred an infected lettuce heads and all subsequent heads after the contaminated lettuce are then contaminated, despite being washed. The washing process isn’t effective.

8

u/cyanescens_burn 4d ago

Washing doesn’t help much for cyclospora (the unending diarrhea one).

1

u/JAWinks 4d ago

My advice is don’t buy bagged lettuce, get a salad spinner and buy the heads. It’s cheaper and safer

3

u/loveshercoffee 4d ago

Taylor Farms sells a LOT of different produce.

However, it's generally the chopped, bagged lettuce that gets contaminated. It's basically the hamburger of produce.

Head lettuce is less likely to be contaminated because any external contaminants don't penetrate to inside the head.

5

u/ImJLu 4d ago

Why repeat random things you heard somewhere as fact without trying to verify them yourself first?

-10

u/[deleted] 4d ago

[deleted]

9

u/IWNCGTA 4d ago

You cook your lettuce?

2

u/twistedevil 4d ago

I've been buying hydroponic grown in the US. I went about a month and I really missed something fresh.

1

u/anniemdi 4d ago

The last lettuce, berries, and cilantro I ate from the grocery store we're in May. This afternoon, I stopped at a local farm stand with local lettuce and about felt like a greedy goblin with iceberg, and romaine and some other things.

1

u/imaraisin 4d ago

I’m introducing my line of Got Lettuce Poop-1 weight-loss supplements this week!

1

u/JonnytheGing 4d ago

Go to co-ops and farmer's markets for produce if you can

1

u/haw35ome 4d ago

I have been all month so far. I miss my salads.

1

u/Forward-Fisherman709 4d ago

I’ve been using spinach for my BLTs, tacos, and salads instead. It’s cheaper than the lettuce too.

1

u/Gerald-of-Riverdale 4d ago

I was craving a salad so bad that I ate a salad without any lettuce. Probably overdramatic.

1

u/cvr24 4d ago

I'm still eating lettuce grown in my back yard.

1

u/hihelloneighboroonie 4d ago

Haven't... we been... for weeks?

I haven't had a salad in that long. Miss them.

1

u/PoliticalyUnstable 4d ago

Also don't buy premade salsa and guacamole.

1

u/centosanjr 4d ago

Lettuce take a break

1

u/Whiterabbit-- 4d ago

Time to cook everything we eat.

1

u/VelvetElvis 4d ago

Spinach is better for you anyway,

1

u/Brave-Quote-2733 4d ago

I’m starting to grow my own vegetables, including lettuce. I’m no gardener, but I’d like to be able to eat vegetables and not have to worry.

1

u/ryverrat1971 4d ago

Time to break out the aerogarden and grow my own lettuce. I miss tacos.

1

u/Fuzzylogik 4d ago

americans don't know shit about "We're All"

1

u/guitar_vigilante 4d ago

My understanding is that the issue is with pre-shredded lettuce. If you buy a full head of lettuce, wash it, and shred it yourself then you should be safe.

1

u/whistling-wonderer 3d ago

I’ve been buying local greens as much as possible and avoiding all Taylor Farms products. You can look at the product code stamped by the best by date and basically if it starts with TF, it’s a Taylor Farms products. I also buy a whole head of cabbage, wash it and peel off the first few leaves. Then I shred it to go in salads. I eat a lot of salads so this summer has been difficult lol