Cyclospora Outbreak Fears Push Sharp Foot Traffic and Stock Drops for Salad-Focused U.S. Restaurants

Anxiety over severe explosive diarrhea tied to a nationwide cyclospora outbreak has driven consumers away from salad vendors in business districts and strip malls across the United States.

Per location analytics firm Placer.ai, foot traffic at popular salad chain Chopt dropped 7.1% on Saturday, July 11, right after news of the large outbreak linked potentially to contaminated lettuce made national headlines, when compared to Chopt’s average Saturday foot traffic in 2026. That same day, Panera Bread recorded a 7.4% dip in Saturday foot traffic, while Sweetgreen saw a 3.1% drop, each measured against their own 2026 average Saturday numbers.

Though Placer.ai told WIRED it only has a small number of days of data to analyze, the firm confirmed visitor declines at restaurants with lettuce-heavy menus began around July 10. Industry-wide data underscores how disproportionately salad-focused chains have been impacted: foot traffic at traditional quick-service chains including McDonald’s, Chick-fil-A, and Wendy’s actually rose 0.8% against their average 2026 Saturday traffic, while overall foot traffic for all fast-casual chains (which typically serve more fresh produce than standard fast-food competitors) fell 2.4%.

Notably, none of the major salad chains included in the data have been officially connected to the outbreak, which the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates has already sickened nearly 7,000 people. Federal authorities have not yet named any specific ingredient, grower, or supplier as the likely source of the outbreak. Still, Michigan’s Department of Health and Human Services — the state at the outbreak’s epicenter — has identified lettuce and other leafy salad greens as a “potential source.” Past cyclospora outbreaks have repeatedly been tied to raw fresh produce, including herbs, raspberries, and lettuce, and heat is the most reliable way to kill the parasite, which consumers almost never cook before eating fresh greens and berries.

Wall Street has also reacted sharply to the outbreak of gastrointestinal illness. As of this article’s publication, Sweetgreen’s share price has fallen 23.3% over the past five days. (Chopt and Panera Bread are privately held, so they do not trade publicly.) None of the major lettuce-heavy chains responded to WIRED’s request for comment.

While Sweetgreen’s stock has suffered the steepest drop, the only chain with confirmed suspected links to the outbreak is Taco Bell. Multiple locations in the Detroit region posted public notices saying they were “currently unable to sell lettuce, cilantro onion, pico de gallo, and guacamole due to a nationwide recall,” and The Washington Post reported that health officials are investigating the chain’s potential role in the outbreak. Shares of Yum Brands, Taco Bell’s parent company, are down 7.2% over the past five days. Placer.ai found Taco Bell’s overall foot traffic fell 5.8% on July 11 compared to the chain’s average Saturday traffic, and in Michigan — where total confirmed cases have reached 4,312 — Taco Bell foot traffic dropped 11.5% against average Saturday numbers. Widespread anxiety about parasite exposure spread online could continue to keep customers away from the chain’s produce-containing menu items.

Still, not all consumers are avoiding leafy greens. Two customers outside a Sweetgreen location in Manhattan’s Financial District told WIRED this Thursday they had not even heard of the cyclospora outbreak. New York has recorded far fewer cases than Michigan, with 510 total cases so far in 2026. More than 380 of those cases are in New York City, which represents a threefold increase over the case count at this date last year, per the city’s local health department. A few blocks away, outside a Chopt location, first-time customer Victoria Atweh shared only positive feedback about her visit to the salad chain. When asked about the outbreak, Atweh said, “I honestly didn’t even think about it.”

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Update: 7/17/2026, 11:30 AM EDT: This article was updated to correct an earlier error that misidentified the date of the measured foot traffic; July 11, the date referenced, was a Saturday.