Not just Taco Bell: Parasite outbreak tied to lettuce dents restaurant traffic

By Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN

(CNN) — Americans are making fewer visits to food chains with lettuce-heavy menus as concerns mount over the cyclospora outbreak.

Last week, the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention linked lettuce served at some Taco Bell restaurants to the widespread outbreak of the diarrhea-causing parasite.

Even before the official announcement, consumers appeared wary of Taco Bell’s potential connection to the outbreak.

Foot traffic fell 20% on July 16 compared to Taco Bell’s average daily levels this year, according to nationwide data from Placer.ai. When federal health officials publicly identified the chain as part of the investigation on July 17, foot traffic dropped nearly 31%. The next day it was down 30%.

Taco Bell told CNN last week that it removed the potentially compromised lettuce.

But it’s not the only food chain affected by wary customers. Cava, Chopt, Panera Bread, Chipotle and Subway have all seen significant declines in visits, according to Placer. The analytics firm uses mobile data to track visits.

Chopt saw foot traffic decline 10.9% on July 16, 14.3% on July 17 and 24% on July 18, according to Placer data. The salad chain, which operates primarily on the East Coast, didn’t respond to CNN’s request for comment.

Cava, Chipotle, Panera Bread and Subway, meanwhile, all experienced drops under 10% over those three days.

“We are continuing to follow the Cyclospora investigation very closely, and at this time, we don’t believe the ingredients we source are associated,” Chipotle’s chief corporate affairs and food safety office told CNN in a statement. Cava, Subway and Panera Bread didn’t respond to CNN’s request for a comment.

It’s not clear what is causing the outbreak that’s impacted thousands of Americans. However, the FDA said Monday it still believes Taylor Farms, the lettuce supplier of many Taco Bell locations, is the likely source.

Despite concern about the outbreak, fast casual and quick service restaurants as a whole have held up. The industry on July 17 declined only 1.1% and 1.9%, respectively, compared to the daily averages.

Correction: An earlier version of this story included data about foot traffic that Placer has since updated. Those figures have been changed in the story to reflect the updated data.

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