Salad Chains See Traffic Drop Amid Cyclosporiasis Fears

Fear of explosion diarrhea seems to be scaring customers away from salad cleaners in business districts and grocery stores in the US.

Sunday, July 11, as the main story spread of cyclospora-probably linked to contaminated lettuce – made headlines, traffic at Chop’ dropped by 7.1 percent, compared to Sunday traffic in 2026, according to Place.ai data. That same day, footfall at Panera Bread was down 7.4 percent and Sweetgreen was down 3.1 percent, compared to the chains on Sunday.

While Placer.ai tells WIRED that it has “a few days to work with it,” the company says the decline in visitors to sites with “lettuce-heavy menus” began around July 10.

Industry figures show that customers are more likely to abandon the heavy-hitting salad chain, with traffic at fast-food chains such as McDonald’s, Chick-fil-A, and Wendy’s rising 0.8 percent compared to their Sunday traffic. Drives for all fast-food chains—which tend to have fresher produce than fast-food chains—fell 2.4 percent.

None of these salad chains have been linked to the outbreak, which sickened nearly 7,000 people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest estimate. In fact, authorities have not named any product, grower, or retailer as a possible cause.

However, the Department of Health and Human Services in Michigan, the state at the center of the outbreak, described lettuce or salad greens as a “possible source.” Previous outbreaks of cyclospora have been linked to raw produce, including blueberries, raspberries, and lettuce. The easiest way to kill these pests is heat, and people don’t usually cook fresh fruit or vegetables.

Wall Street also appears to be reeling from turbo diarrhea. At the time of publication, Sweetgreen shares were down 23.3 percent in the past five days. (Chop’t and Panera Bread are independent grocery companies.) None of the “lettuce-heavy” chains responded to WIRED’s request for comment.

While Sweetgreen’s stock is struggling, the only chain thought to be connected to the outbreak is Taco Bell. Some locations in the Detroit area posted notices saying they are “currently unable to sell lettuce, cilantro onions, pico de gallo, and guacamole due to a nationwide recall,” and and the Washington Post He added that health officials are investigating whether the chain contributed to the spread.

Shares of Taco Bell’s parent company Yum! The species is down 7.2 percent over the past five days. Placer.ai found that Taco Bell traffic was down 5.8 percent on July 11, compared to Sunday traffic. In Michigan – where the number of cases has reached 4,312 – traffic was 11.5 percent lower than the Sunday average. Concerns are spreading online about the risk of contracting pathogens may continue to keep potential gordita buyers away.

However, not everyone is afraid of green vegetables. Two customers outside the Sweetgreen location in Manhattan’s Financial District told WIRED Thursday that they had never heard of a cyclospora outbreak. New York has fewer cases than Michigan, which has 510 cases so far in 2026. More than 380 are in New York City, which represents a three-fold increase over last year. according to the local health department.

Outside Chop’t a few blocks away, Victoria Atweh had nothing but good things to say about her first visit to the salad chain.

Regarding the spread of cyclospora, Atweh says, “I honestly never thought about it.”