This is one outlet's own report from Newsweek — the article as it was filed. Other outlets are covering the same event; open the full story to compare every source side by side.
Taco Bell Reports 'Meaningful' Hit From Cyclospora Outbreak
0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. Taco Bell’s parent company has reported a “meaningful” hit to sales after lettuce served at its restaurants was linked to the multistate cyclosporiasis outbreak that has sickened thousands nationwide.
In mid-July, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) identified the fast-food chain as a possible exposure source for many patients, specifically pointing to the shredded iceberg lettuce served at Taco Bell locations in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia.
On Thursday, Yum! Brands, Taco Bell’s parent company, announced earnings for the most recent quarter which ended June 30. The restaurant chain, its most significant business unit, saw same-store sales jump 7 percent in the quarter. The company's other major brands fared less well: KFC recorded a 2 percent gain, while Pizza Hut saw same-store sales fall 1 percent. Overall, Yum! Brands said net income climbed to $853 million in the second quarter, more than doubled from $374 million a year prior.
Those results covered a period that ended before health officials publicly linked Taco Bell locations to the outbreak, but Yum! Brands said that it has battled consumer caution in the days and weeks since.
“The brand has seen a meaningful near-term sales impact,” executives told analysts during an earnings call on Thursday morning, due to what they said was “elevated uncertainty” weighing on customer demand. As a result, while Taco Bell “entered Q3 in its strongest position ever,” Yum! Brands said its same-store sales were down by 2 percent in the current quarter to date.
However, the company said Taco Bell’s “measures of social sentiment” had already returned to “pre-issue levels,” and that sales declines had moderated “materially," putting it on track to return to its “pre-issue” trajectory.
While the company faces declining sales, falling foot traffic and several lawsuits over its role in the outbreak, it has found success in using lettuce-free deals to promote the Taco Bell app.
On July 28, the company offered a $1 Mexican pizza deal, following a similar offer of $1 enchiritos "for those who’ve been riding with us" on July 22. The offers were available in person or through its app, and executives said on Thursday that these generated more activity than any other Tuesday drops in Taco Bell's history.
The promotions appear to have helped drive app engagement. Among free apps on the Apple store, Taco Bell briefly climbed to the top spot on Wednesday and is now second only to DoorDash while beating out Wingstop, McDonald’s, and Uber Eats. This marks an improvement from its fifth-place ranking on July 16, the day its restaurants were linked to the outbreak.
Among the most popular Android apps, meanwhile, Taco Bell has climbed one spot to third place over the same period.
Newsweek contacted Taco Bell on Thursday morning for comment.
The CDC has received reports of 6,707 lab-confirmed cyclosporiasis infections since May 1, according to its latest update on Tuesday, alongside a further 11,500 suspected cases, with many of these reports originating in Michigan and Ohio. Of the confirmed cases, the CDC said there had been 423 associated hospitalizations since the start of May.
Public health investigators have linked the outbreak to lettuce sourced from central Mexico and a single supplier. Taylor Farms, the company in question, initiated a recall for all iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico on July 17, and Taco Bell said it "completed removal of affected Taylor Farms lettuce" from its restaurants on that date.
However, the company is now dealing with a wave of lawsuits from customers who say they contracted the diarrhea-causing infection after consuming Taco Bell. This includes a complaint from an Ohio man who claims he experienced "excruciating abdominal pain, horrible gas, diarrhea, a constant urge to vomit, low grade fever, dizziness, nausea and headaches" after eating at a Taco Bell restaurant in June.
And according to data from the analytics platform Placer.ai, cited in Reuters, foot traffic has continued to decline since officials linked the chain to the outbreak, falling by 21 percent on July 23 compared to the average for Thursdays this year.
Meanwhile, shares of Yum! Brands had fallen around five percent in July ahead of its second-quarter earnings on Thursday morning.
The earnings report made little mention of the impact of cyclosporiasis on sales, though Yum! Brands warned that its outlook could be affected by "the impact of the July 2026 cyclospora outbreak; the impact of such outbreak on sales and pace of recovery; adverse impacts of public health conditions or other catastrophic or unforeseen events."
Update 07/30/2026 7:26 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with information on Yum! Brands' Q2 earnings.
Update, 07/30/2026, 9:13 a.m. ET: This article was updated with information from Yum! Brands' Q2 earnings call.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Daniel Orton and Robert Greenall
AIPROPX is an independent multi-source news index — we track, compare, and connect coverage from across the web into one place you won't find anywhere else.
