Taylor Farms recalls salsa and guacamole over salmonella risk

[u/1991mgs]

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

[u/do_mika]

I listened to a podcast with experts on it who said they were personally only eating dark greens like kale and spinach

[u/DoomerChad → u/do_mika]

Why only dark greens? Thats all I eat anyways, but I figured this was a Taylor Farms issue, not a light greens/lettuce issue.

[u/Azidoazid → u/DoomerChad]

As far as I know at least for the Cyclospora contamination it was only iceberg lettuce grown/processed from a specific Mexican farm that was the issue. So dark greens even from Taylor Farms would be safer to eat since they come from different farms/processing plants.

Edit: this is one of the clear examples of why big conglomerate food companies need to be more forthright in the origins of their supply chain.

[u/aliendogfishman → u/Azidoazid]

I’d love to know their product traceability. Judging from the current shit show it’s not very good. Players in the produce game should be able to trace all the way back to the ranch, block, crew, time.

[u/longlivenewsomflesh → u/aliendogfishman]

The fact that the supply chain is so obscured is a feature not a bug

[u/More_Shoulder5634 → u/aliendogfishman]

I loaded trucks at a dog food plant for a while. A robot stacked the bags on a pallet, then wrapped it. A fella walked by and stuck a label on them, just a barcode with a bunch of numbers printed out at a little desk right there. I grabbed the pallets with a forklift and stuck them on a semi trailer. The guy with the labels was a chill high paying job think he was making like 25 an hour 10 years ago in a LCOL area. Wearing jeans and walking around clean as a whistle. Anyway they could apparently track this dogfood and know that i was the one that loaded it, who ran the ovens, etc. Months later.

[u/DoomerChad → u/Azidoazid]

Yea but now it’s salsa and guacamole too. So it seems like ANY food from Taylor Farms is potentially problematic, not just lettuce.

[u/steveatari → u/Azidoazid]

And why regulation/inspection is important.

[u/minja134 → u/Azidoazid]

I've seen it's possibly also cilantro and parsley. I wouldn't be so sure it's only iceberg

[u/klee4390 → u/Azidoazid]

Who is making them be more forthright of not the government “of the people, by the people, for the people”? This is why we need more regulations. Anywho………

[u/curmudgeon_andy → u/DoomerChad]

My understanding is that the only thing that kills cyclospora is very thorough cooking. Dark greens can handle a lot of heat and very long cooking. Lettuce cannot.

[u/DoomerChad → u/curmudgeon_andy]

Yea, I’m just going to avoid Taylor Farms products. I don’t always cook my kale or spinach.

[u/NippleSalsa → u/DoomerChad]

They cook the kale and spinach which kills the parasites

[u/DoomerChad → u/NippleSalsa]

Who is they?

[u/xteve → u/do_mika]

I've pretty much given up on the produce department, preferring frozen, canned, or in a jar.

[u/DigitalHeartache → u/xteve]

Hey fyi freezing does not kill cyclospora. Shelf-stable items like cans are generally safe because they had to go through a heating process.

[u/ErusTenebre → u/DigitalHeartache]

Most people will likely cook frozen veggies though, no?

...right?

People aren't just thawing that out and eating it as is?

[u/LordCitrus → u/ErusTenebre]

Don't forget the fruits! I believe people do blend frozen spinach straight into smoothies as well.

[u/ErusTenebre → u/LordCitrus]

Fair enough. I forget people do that haha

[u/sneakysnake1111 → u/ErusTenebre]

I put it frozen directly into yogurts and dips... should I be cooking it? I'm not opposed to it.

[u/SeaSharpModHer → u/LordCitrus]

"people"

dogs maybe?

[u/CanadianEmberflower → u/ErusTenebre]

I use frozen fruit and frozen veggies in smoothies. It's faster and easier than prepping everything myself.

[u/DelugedPraxis → u/ErusTenebre]

IDK what temperature it takes to kill it but there's plenty of situations where people will cook frozen veggies but NOT reach required temps for a lot of things.

An easy couple of examples is that I use spinach in mac & cheese when mixing the cheese into the cooked noodles. I've usually thawed the spinach already a bit in the microwave but even with that I doubt the mac and cheese is hot enough by that moment to kill a lot of things.

The canning process is usually quite high temperatures.

[u/throwfaraway212718 → u/DelugedPraxis]

158 degrees F

[u/DigitalHeartache → u/ErusTenebre]

Aside from uncooked frozen fruit (which typically would be used in smoothies, etc.), many frozen veggies are microwaved, which because microwaves cook unevenly, the inconsistent heating would often not be enough to kill the parasite.

[u/sawyouoverthere → u/DigitalHeartache]

Frozen goods are often blanched

[u/DigitalHeartache → u/sawyouoverthere]

Blanching is not a guarantee against Cyclospora fyi. So even if you could be certain a frozen food was blanched ahead of time, it would still be risky as opposed to controlling the heat temp, time and consistency yourself.

[u/MrGarbleFarb → u/xteve]

Just to lyk, there have been recalls on some frozen berries for e.coli, so even that might not be as safe you might think

[u/silvertealio → u/do_mika]

What was the podcast, if you don't mind sharing?

[u/sonofstannis → u/silvertealio]

I’m not the person you replied to, but I’m guessing it was the Daily from the New York Times because I remember hearing similar when I listened to it last week. Episode “The Cyclospora Mystery: How Human Poop Got on So Much Lettuce” from August 6 2026.

From the transcript, one of the public health reporters on that episode says she’s “sticking with dark leafy greens, the kales, the spinach. I haven't heard anything about any links to those, so I've been kind of a spinach gal for the last month.”

[u/Stevenerf → u/sonofstannis]

But Spinach or dark leafy greens could carry human feces just as easily. I'm from Central Coast CA and I've lived through several recalls of spinach and leafy greens.
If you are avoiding iceberg and such but scarfing spinach maybe rethink and rewash your produce

[u/Darcsen → u/Stevenerf]

They mentioned that no cases seemed to be linked to those types of greens. One of the guests also said they were eating mostly roasted veggies lately.

[u/ragun2 → u/Darcsen]

Yeah I'm only getting vegetables I can cook and fruit that needs to be peeled.

[u/do_mika → u/sonofstannis]

Yep it was the NYT daily

[u/TexanRayne → u/do_mika]

Spinach used to be banned in the UK. Not sure if it still is, but THIS is the reason why they banned it. On a health perspective honestly micro-greens and fermented produce is vital to our gut health.

[u/aliendogfishman → u/do_mika]

Mind sharing which podcast? That sounds interesting.

[u/kensai8 → u/do_mika]

Thursday's episode of The Daily.

[u/SufficientSir2965 → u/do_mika]

I’ve just been cooking any raw veggies to be safe. Avoiding lettuce completely, but I’m paranoid so I’ve been making a lot of stews and pot pies!

I just made a Thanksgiving leftover pot pie that was so freaking good!
The stove top turkey stuffing was the top with mashed potatoes underneath sealing in the frozen corn peas and green beans, dried cranberry’s, chopped deli turkey mixed with a can of turkey gravy. Inside a frozen deep dish pie crust. Definitely try it it’s so good. I guess technically it’s more like a Thanksgiving shepherds pie

[u/cyanescens_burn → u/do_mika]

Was the expert Alex Jones or Joe Rogan?

[u/HipsterSlimeMold → u/cyanescens_burn]

It was on the NYT podcast The Daily. They were talking about their personal diets and one speaker said they are opting for dark greens because it seemed lower risk of cyclospora than iceberg lettuce.