First Lawsuit Filed in Taco Bell Cyclospora Outbreak: Hospitalized Army Veteran Sues Taco Bell and Taylor Farms

YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO — July 17, 2026 — The first lawsuit arising from the massive nationwide cyclospora outbreak linked to Taco Bell has been filed in Mahoning County, Ohio, on behalf of David Ott, a 27-year veteran of the United States Army who was hospitalized after eating contaminated food at a Youngstown Taco Bell.

The suit, filed this morning by national food safety law firm Ron Simon & Associates together with Ohio co-counsel DiCello Levitt & Casey LLC, names Taco Bell Corp., Taylor Fresh Foods, Inc. (doing business as Taylor Farms), and franchise operator Charter Foods, Inc. as defendants. It is the first case filed in what health officials are calling one of the largest food poisoning outbreaks in U.S. history.

An Outbreak Nearly 7,000 Cases Strong

According to the FDA and CDC, nearly 7,000 cases of cyclosporiasis have been confirmed or are under investigation nationwide since May 1, 2026, with at least 141 people hospitalized.

On the evening of July 16, the CDC published a report linking shredded iceberg lettuce served at Taco Bell restaurants to cyclospora infections across five states: **Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, and West Virginia**. Michigan has been hit hardest, with more than 4,300 confirmed cases based on interviews with over 1,000 patients.

The FDA’s traceback investigation identified a single supplier of the iceberg lettuce, grown in Mexico, used by Taco Bell locations in the affected states. Reporting by multiple national outlets, including CNN and The Washington Post, has confirmed that supplier is Taylor Farms, the Salinas, California-based produce giant that supplies major restaurant chains across the country.

Taco Bell says it has removed the impacted lettuce from stores in the affected states and is removing the ingredient from its supply chain nationwide indefinitely.

A Veteran’s Summer Vacation Turned Hospital Stay

According to the complaint, Mr. Ott purchased several Taco Supremes on June 18 and June 20 from the Taco Bell located at 850 N. Canfield Niles Road in Youngstown, Ohio.

By the morning of June 22, he was suffering excruciating abdominal pain, severe gas and bloating, diarrhea, a constant urge to vomit, low-grade fever, dizziness, nausea, and headaches. As his condition worsened, his wife Kendle rushed him to Christus Good Shepherd Medical Center, where he was admitted and underwent a colonoscopy, a CT scan, and extensive blood and stool testing. When routine labs came back largely unremarkable, doctors finally tested for cyclospora — and the test came back positive.

Mr. Ott spent two days in the hospital before being discharged to home care with a prescription for Bactrim, a sulfa antibiotic. He continues to recover at home, and the complaint alleges he has incurred medical bills, lost vacation time, and significant lost wages.

Cyclospora is a microscopic single-celled parasite that infects the small intestine, causing prolonged watery diarrhea, cramping, bloating, nausea, and fatigue. Untreated, the illness can last for months, with symptoms that relapse and return — and chronic fatigue is a common aftereffect.

“Cyclospora Does Not Appear in Food by Accident”

Ron Simon, who represents dozens of victims of this outbreak nationwide (likely hundreds by early next week), issued the following statement this morning:

“David Ott gave twenty-seven years of his life to this country. He should not have had to spend his summer vacation in a hospital bed because a lettuce supplier and a national restaurant chain failed to keep a parasite out of the food they sold him.

Cyclospora does not appear in food by accident. It gets there when produce is grown, washed, or handled in contact with human or animal feces.

In this litigation, we will make sure that all of our clients are fully and fairly compensated, we will find out exactly how the lettuce became contaminated, and we will make sure that Taco Bell and Taylor Farms take the steps necessary to ensure that this never happens again.”

Not the First Time — for Either Defendant

The lawsuit notes that this is not Taylor Farms’ first brush with cyclospora. In 2013, a salad mix traced to a Taylor Farms processing facility in Mexico sickened 631 people across 25 states, with many victims having eaten at Olive Garden and Red Lobster locations.

Taco Bell’s own history with foodborne illness outbreaks is also detailed in the complaint, including a 2006 E. coli O157:H7 outbreak across the Northeast that sickened 71 people, multistate Salmonella outbreaks in 2010 and 2011–2012 that together sickened more than 200, and a 2018 hepatitis A exposure at an Arkansas location.

The Legal Claims

The complaint asserts causes of action under Ohio’s product liability statutes — including defective manufacture, defective design, inadequate warning, and failure to conform to representations — along with supplier liability, strict products liability, and negligence. It seeks compensatory damages in excess of $100,000 and punitive damages in excess of $500,000, alleging the defendants’ conduct showed “a flagrant disregard of the safety of persons who might be harmed.”

Were You Sickened in the Taco Bell Cyclospora Outbreak?

Ron Simon & Associates has established the Taco Bell Cyclospora Claim Center to assist outbreak victims. Anyone who ate at a Taco Bell in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, or West Virginia and subsequently developed symptoms of cyclosporiasis — prolonged watery diarrhea, cramping, bloating, nausea, fatigue, or fever — should seek medical attention and ask specifically to be tested for cyclospora, as standard stool panels may miss the parasite.

The Claim Center can be reached toll-free at **1-888-335-4901** or through the firm’s website at https://www.ronsimonassociates.com.

Over the last 33 years, Ron Simon and his colleagues have prosecuted thousands of food poisoning cases nationwide, work that has driven food safety upgrades at Fortune 500 companies and consumer-protection legislation. A copy of the lawsuit is available upon request.