The Cyclospora outbreak that has sickened more than 6,700 people and claimed its first confirmed deaths is reshaping consumer shopping habits well beyond the leafy greens linked to the outbreak.
Fear and confusion about which products are affected and the brands and businesses distributing them are driving shoppers away from fresh produce broadly in favor of frozen – altering foot traffic at grocery retailers and fast casual restaurants.
The shift in shopping could have far-reaching and long-term implications for retailers, including losses and gains.
For example, fresh produce departments are a key traffic driver for many grocers, encouraging more frequent shopping trips and prompting purchases across other categories as consumers build meals around fresh ingredients.
At the same time, grocery stores could see an uptick in foot traffic from consumers who normally might pick up a quick dinner from fast casual restaurants but who hit pause on purchases from them for fear of consuming food contaminated with Cyclospora, a parasite that can cause prolonged diarrhea and dehydration.
While death from the parasite in the US is unusual, infections can be dangerous for people whose health is already compromised, as in the case of the two people who died in Michigan after contracting cyclosporiasis.
Consumer pullback reaches beyond implicated products
As the extent of the outbreak grows, consumers are pulling back from purchasing a far greater range of products than the iceberg lettuce that is at the center of the current outbreak.
According to new data from the rewards platform Fetch, sales of fresh lettuce declined 10%, fresh salad mixes 23% and salad kits 27% in the last two weeks.
“The pullback was even steeper by shopper count, with 25% fewer Fetch users buying fresh lettuce and roughly 40% fewer purchasing salad mixes and kits. The findings suggest consumers may not simply be avoiding the implicated lettuce – they appear to be pulling back across the fresh salad category,” according to a company spokesperson.
Some shoppers are replacing fresh produce purchases with frozen, suggests Fetch data that show a 17% increase in frozen vegetable sales in the same period.
Executives with Sprouts Farmers Market confirmed this trend during the retailer’s quarterly earnings call last week.
“We are watching this pretty closely just to see where it is going to go, the customer reaction to this. It is difficult to know how this is going to play out, but we are focused on food safety,” Sprouts Farmers Market CEO Jack Sinclair said.
“First and foremost, food safety is our No. 1 priority,” echoed Sprouts Farmers Market CFO Curtis Valentine. “The team really does a great job with that. They’re watching all the news and the regulatory updates closely. We haven’t had any product recall impact in our stores to date.”
Still, the outbreak is impacting how customers shop, he added.
“It is really isolated to lettuces, salads and salad-related items is where we are seeing a bit of impact. It is a shift from fresh to frozen,” he explained.
Fast casual visits decline
Retailers are not the only ones impacted by shifting shopping due to the outbreak. Restaurant chains also are seeing a significant decline in foot traffic following the outbreak in recent weeks, according to data from Placer.ai.
It tracked double-digit declines at Taco Bell (-20.8%) and Chopt (-12.2%) on Thursday July 23 compared to day-of-week averages between Jan. 1 and July 6. Chipotle and Panera similarly saw declines, but to a lesser extent at -1.4% and -3.1% respectively on July 23.
These numbers are in line with a drop-off that began earlier in the month as news of the outbreak became public.
While dramatic, restaurant visits may be on the rebound, according to the company.
“Placer.ai data indicates that Taco Bell’s visit trends have improved since bottoming out on July 17–18 but remain roughly 20% below day-of-week averages (from Jan. 1-July 6, 2026). Most QSR and fast-casual chains have rebounded in recent days, with visit trends now outpacing day-of-week averages. Salad chains like Chopt, however, remain below day-of-week averages (from Jan. 1-July 6, 2026),” according to a spokesperson.
Retailers and restaurants respond
To reduce their financial exposure and potentially contaminating customers many retailers and restaurants are declining or destroying produce orders.
According to Total Quality Logistics, which oversees around 140,000 shipments of produce annually, for the week of July 13 the company saw produce shipments drop about 20% year over year as customers cancelled orders and some growers or shippers opted to dispose of products rather than risk additional exposure.
Lessons learned for recalls
The current outbreak is the latest in a series of high-profile foodborne illness challenges and recalls in recent years, which range from cantaloupe and spinach to peanut butter, and once again underscores the importance of clear communication and prompt action by industry stakeholders.
In fast-moving and evolving cases like this, speed and clarity of communication matter more than certainty, according to Roger Hancock, CEO of Recall InfoLink.
He explained that “waiting for a fully resolved picture before saying anything is what erodes trust,” which is why he recommends that “instead of waiting for the situation to completely resolve, state what is known and what is being done. Then proactively provide updates as the situation evolves.”
He added: “Consumer fear comes from the information gap, not the actual risk.”
He explained, “People avoiding all bagged salad is a rational response to incomplete information. Recall responses from both regulatory and industry sources should focus on equipping people with an accurate picture of what is protective in this specific case.”
That said, he stressed, “recall response doesn’t replace food safety practice.” Rather, he said, “supplier-level controls, point-of-sale response and consumer-level precautions all matter independently. Prevention is still the goal.”
