Lettuce and the Big Food Nightmare

Cyclospora is a perfect storm for our highly consolidated food system.

Since late June, Cyclospora cayetanensis has dominated food conversations in the US. The tiny single-celled parasite causing explosive gastro-intestinal distress in 49 states is elusive and resilient.

Cyclospora finds its way into fresh produce every summer, going back to the 1990s. It is now endemic in tropical and subtropical regions where quite a lot of food is grown and processed. Once shed in human feces, it requires a week or two in warm, humid outdoor conditions to mature and become infectious to others. Rising global temperatures have made it easier for cyclospora to spread, and it can survive in the environment for months.

Under these conditions, agricultural water can be contaminated. Cyclospora can be inadvertently applied to plants through irrigation water and pesticide mixing. However, in this case, it likely entered our food supply through the water used to wash your produce, which is why that triple-washed bag lettuce is riskier than a head of romaine.

Bleach and other sanitizers don’t kill it (although cooking does), and its sticky coating enables it to lodge in folds and crevices of produce (such as lettuce, raspberries, blueberries, fresh herbs, and snap/snow peas).

While this particular cyclospora outbreak appears to have wound down, the pathogen is not disappearing.