Taco Bell is now facing its first wave of lawsuits tied to the massive Cyclospora outbreak, with two customers claiming contaminated lettuce left them seriously ill.
According to an announcement from food safety law firm Marler Clark, Mohammed R. Ayyad filed a complaint on July 16, 2026, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. The case, Ayyad v. Pacific Bells, LLC, was assigned case number 1:26 cv 01648 and names the company that operates a Taco Bell restaurant in North Olmsted, Ohio, along with unidentified growers, suppliers and distributors.
The Taco Bell lawsuit alleges that Ayyad ate at the North Olmsted restaurant on June 14 and June 21. According to Marler Clark, Ayyad said he developed a severe headache, chills, vomiting and persistent diarrhea around June 23. The law firm said he visited a Cleveland Clinic urgent care location on July 3, submitted a stool sample on July 6 and received a positive Cyclospora result on July 9. He was reportedly prescribed Bactrim and missed approximately two weeks of work.
According to the complaint summary released by Marler Clark, Ayyad is pursuing claims under the Ohio Product Liability Act and the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act, along with claims involving alleged breaches of express and implied warranties. The lawsuit seeks compensatory damages, possible enhanced damages, legal fees and a jury trial. The allegations have not yet been proven in court, and the defendants will have an opportunity to respond.
One day later, another Taco Bell lawsuit was filed in Mahoning County, Ohio, on behalf of David Ott, a Texas resident and 27 year veteran of the United States Army. According to Ron Simon and Associates, Ott’s complaint names Taco Bell Corporation and Taylor Fresh Foods, which does business as Taylor Farms. That distinction appears to make Ott’s complaint the first publicly announced case naming both the restaurant brand and the produce company that news reports have identified as the lettuce supplier.
Ott alleges that he purchased Taco Supremes from a Taco Bell restaurant on North Canfield Niles Road in Youngstown on June 18 and June 20. According to his attorneys, Ott began experiencing abdominal pain, severe gas, bloating, diarrhea, nausea, dizziness, headaches and a low grade fever by June 22. His legal team said he was admitted to Christus Good Shepherd Medical Center, underwent a colonoscopy, a CT scan and blood and stool testing, and was ultimately diagnosed with a Cyclospora infection.
According to Ron Simon and Associates, Ott remained hospitalized for two days before he was discharged with a prescription for Bactrim. His attorneys said he continues to recover. As with Ayyad’s case, the claims in Ott’s Taco Bell lawsuit remain allegations that must be tested through the court process.
The litigation comes as federal health officials have moved from investigating a possible connection to directly linking part of the outbreak to lettuce served by Taco Bell. According to a July 17 alert from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1,644 people across Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia have been infected in the cluster associated with shredded iceberg lettuce served at Taco Bell restaurants. The CDC reported 94 hospitalizations and no deaths.
The CDC said the illnesses covered by the alert were laboratory confirmed and linked to the implicated product. The agency also stressed that those 1,644 infections do not represent every Cyclospora illness reported across the country during the current surge. According to the CDC, illnesses within the Taco Bell connected cluster began between May 13 and July 13.
According to the Food and Drug Administration, investigators analyzed detailed meal information from 190 Michigan patients who reported eating at Taco Bell. The FDA said 90 percent of those patients reported consuming iceberg lettuce. The agency’s traceback investigation then converged on one supplier of iceberg lettuce from Mexico that provided lettuce to Taco Bell locations where customers reported eating before becoming sick.
The FDA has not publicly named that supplier in its outbreak notice. However, the Associated Press reported that a federal official briefed on the investigation identified the supplier as Taylor Farms. The AP also reported that Taylor Farms did not immediately respond to its request for comment. Because the FDA has not placed the company’s name in its public advisory, the supplier’s identity should continue to be attributed to reporting rather than presented as an independently announced FDA finding.
According to the FDA, Taco Bell committed to stopping the use of lettuce connected to the supplier identified through the traceback investigation. Taco Bell also said in a statement reported by the Associated Press that it had removed potentially affected lettuce from select states and would remove the supplier’s lettuce from its nationwide supply chain. The company said replacement lettuce would be introduced in affected markets.
The filings are also arriving while state totals remain much higher than the number contained in the federal product specific investigation. According to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Michigan had reported 5,002 cyclosporiasis cases as of July 17, with 102 reported hospitalizations as of the state’s latest weekly review. Michigan explained that its total can include confirmed and probable cases, while the federal outbreak count is limited to laboratory confirmed infections that have been connected to the specific lettuce cluster. The two numbers should not be added together.
According to the FDA, Cyclospora is a microscopic parasite that can contaminate food or water through human fecal matter. The agency says the parasite infects the small intestine and can cause frequent watery diarrhea, appetite loss, weight loss, stomach pain, bloating, gas, nausea and fatigue. Symptoms may disappear and later return, and untreated illness can last for weeks. People with weakened immune systems, older adults and children may face greater risks from dehydration and other complications.
The current Taco Bell lawsuit wave also places new attention on Taylor Farms’ previous involvement in major food safety investigations. Taylor Farms was connected to a 2013 Cyclospora outbreak involving salad mix and a 2024 E. coli outbreak involving onions served at McDonald’s. In the 2024 investigation, the FDA said Taylor Farms voluntarily recalled yellow onions supplied to McDonald’s and other food service customers after slivered onions were identified as the likely source of the outbreak.
Federal officials are advising customers not to eat shredded iceberg lettuce served at Taco Bell locations in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia while the investigation continues. The FDA noted that not every Taco Bell restaurant in those states received the implicated lettuce. The CDC also said the warning does not apply to shredded iceberg lettuce sold in grocery stores or served by other restaurants based on the information currently available.
The legal battle is only beginning, but the timeline is already important. Ayyad’s July 16 federal complaint appears to be the first confirmed lawsuit connected to the 2026 outbreak. Ott’s July 17 case appears to be the first publicly reported lawsuit to directly name both Taco Bell and Taylor Farms. With regulators continuing to investigate the scope of the contamination and attorneys reporting contact with additional patients, these first complaints may become the opening cases in a much larger fight over how contaminated lettuce entered a national restaurant supply chain.
