University of Missouri pulls dining hall lettuce over cyclospora risk

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The University of Missouri has pulled its dining hall lettuce for possible contamination with Cyclospora, the parasite causing thousands of cases of diarrhea across the United States.

MU spokesperson Travis Zimpfer told ABC 17 in an email Saturday that there was a recall for the Cross Valley Farms-branded lettuce served at the university.

The brand is owned by US Foods, one of the largest food service distributors in the country. The company announced that a “limited number” of products from its Cross Valley Farms brand, including iceberg lettuce, were affected by the recall and began reaching out to customers on Friday.

"Campus Dining Services immediately followed standard recall protocol," Zimpfer wrote in an email.

The recall is tied to a national Cyclosporiasis outbreak that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention linked to the supplier, Taylor Farms. The multi-state parasite outbreak came from lettuce grown in central Mexico, according to the CDC, and was distributed to 27 states, including Missouri.