Fruit and Vegetable News

 Annalisa Hultberg, Extension Educator, food safety The Cyclospora outbreaks across the country are continuing to cause thousands of illnesses. The patient counts related to the outbreak in Michigan are at more than 14,700 currently, and nearly 20,000 total nationally. What is going on? The CDC and other public health entities are still not certain what the source of the contamination is. View these new resources to learn more about this parasite, how to keep it off your vegetables, and how to talk with your customers.  What the heck is Cyclospora? You my be getting questions from your customers about this foodborne parasite, since this outbreak is reacord-setting. To be clear - the investigation is still very much ongoing.  Iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms grown in Mexico is likely the source of some of the illnesses, though likely not all.  UMN Extension has created a short video that covers the key topics and messaging points for responding to customer concerns ...

Annalisa Hultberg, Extension educator, food safety  This article contains updates related to the current multi-state Cyclospora outbreak. Since this is an evolving investigation, updates will be posted as they are available.  Update 8/13: As of August 10th, 2026, there have been at least 13,895 laboratory-confirmed cases of   c yclosporiasis in the United States.  At least 10,455 additional cases of cyclosporiasis may require further investigation and analysis, and i t is likely that the number of confirmed cases will continue to rise as more people report symptoms.  There have been 2 confirmed deaths related to the current outbreaks and over 500 hospitalizations. It is very likely that more than 1 outbreak is happening at the same time. The only produce item that has been publicly identified as a potential source of illness is iceberg lettuce from central Mexico.   What should you do as a farmer? The current outbreaks are almost certainly related...

Annalisa Hultberg, Extension Educator, food safety This short article is intended to help fruit and vegetable farmers quickly understand how to talk with their customers about the current Cyclospora outbreak and to dispel misinformation.  What you need to know about the parasite as a farmer Cyclospora is a microscopic protozoan parasite that can cause severe, watery diarrhea among other symptoms when ingested. It comes from feces from infected humans, not animals or wildlife. Cyclospora can contaminate fresh produce when water that is used on the farm during growing (most often from sources like rivers and streams) contains human feces from a person who is ill with the parasite.  It can be very difficult or impossible to wash the parasite off produce once it gets on. The source of the current outbreak is likely contaminated surface water used for irrigation, but the investigation is ongoing.  Well water is much less likely to be contaminated with fecal material. Produc...