Protecting Consumers from Foodborne Cyclospora Parasite

**SPEAKER_1** (0:02)
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, Radio, News.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:07)
You're listening to Bloomberg Businessweek with Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec on Bloomberg Radio.

**Carol Massar** (0:14)
Something that we have been talking about in a very concerned way around the newsroom is this outbreak of a parasite. We've seen some stocks actually move on. I think it was late yesterday.
Sweet Green, Yum, owner of Taco Bell, Chipotle, some movements lower in the trade. This is as US regulators trace the outbreak of this parasite to a shredded iceberg lettuce that has been served at Taco Bell restaurants and identifying a single supplier as the apparent source. So you said you eat a lot of salads. You stopped eating salads.

**Emily Graffeo** (0:48)
I stopped eating salads. And I don't know, is it, when can I eat salads again?

**Carol Massar** (0:54)
Right.

**Emily Graffeo** (0:55)
When can I have cilantro? Like, is it over?

**Carol Massar** (0:58)
What do you have to be concerned about, right?

**Emily Graffeo** (0:59)
Yeah, exactly.

**Carol Massar** (1:00)
Well, that's why we thought it's time to talk to a doctor and an expert who knows something about it. If you're worried or kind of who isn't. With us, delighted to have with Emily and myself, Dr. William Schaffner. He is a Professor of Preventive Medicine in the Department of Health Policy, as well as Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, joining us from Nashville. Dr. Schaffner, it is great to have you here with us.
We have seen Michigan report over 5,000 infections tied to this parasite. We're worried here in New York. How dangerous is it?

**William Schaffner** (1:37)
Well, ladies, it's good to be with you.
We seem to be getting to the end of this outbreak because, as you were saying, the CDCs and the State Health Department disease detectives have implicated a shredded iceberg lettuce from a particular supplier who got their lettuce from a particular farm in Mexico as the source of this parasitic infection. So I hope it's coming to an end pretty soon.

**Carol Massar** (2:07)
Okay.

**Emily Graffeo** (2:08)
But just because they've identified one source, does that mean that raspberries, for example, are in the clear or is there a chance that this had spread from food to food?

**William Schaffner** (2:21)
Well, what we know is what we know, and certainly shredded lettuce, which is the sort of produce that has been the source of cyclospora in the past, has now been implicated. Whether that's the whole story, we're not entirely sure. I think, I still think it's a good idea if you bring produce into the house, wash it thoroughly, brush it off if you can, and as the saying goes, wash it, peel it, or cook it.

**Carol Massar** (2:55)
All right. I've got a list now of things to do. I do wonder though, is this happening more frequently or no? Sometimes this just happens when it comes to food production.

**William Schaffner** (3:09)
Well, in the United States, we have local food producers, we also have very large national distribution of food. And so, on occasion, when some food item is contaminated, that's nationally distributed, you can suddenly get infections that are spread over a wide swath of the country.
Back in the old days, 1930s, 40s, and 50s, when most of the food was locally grown and used, foodborne outbreaks were more localized. Now that we have widespread national distribution, often from international sources, indeed, you can get foodborne outbreaks that are spread over a much larger geographic area and involve more people.

**Emily Graffeo** (4:02)
It just felt like this one was in the headlines more.
I felt like, I mean, usually in the summer, I don't avoid certain fruits and vegetables. This felt scarier than other times when you hear about a parasite. It almost felt closer to home. Was the fear justified? Did the numbers actually justify people completely cutting salad out of their diet for two weeks?

**William Schaffner** (4:29)
Well, I think certainly in the affected states, the major affected states, there were many cases. This was a large outbreak. Each year, late spring, early summer, we have some cyclospora cases that occur. But this is prodigious. This is a very large outbreak.
People being cautious about what they eat, avoiding things. We had an early clue that it might be salad. People began avoiding eating lettuce and things like that. That's a prudent thing to do. Particularly if you're older, you're frail, you have an underlying illness, you're pregnant, you're immune compromised.
Smart. Be careful.

**Carol Massar** (5:12)
Right. And don't make jokes about wanting to get this and to lose weight. I've heard so many people say that. I'm like, you really don't want this kind of stuff. Hey, while we have you, you just got about a minute and a half or so left here, Dr. Schaffner. I want to ask you about, in New York City, we've also been dealing with Legionnaires, bacteria. It was identified in about dozens of buildings, I should say. And I think what's interesting is at least 46 people have been infected, 22 hospitalized. But it comes after seven people died from it in Central Harlem, where more than 100 were infected just about a year ago. So what do we need to understand about this?