Fear of explosives diarrhea appears to be driving customers away from salad vendors in business districts and shopping malls across the United States.
On Sunday, July 11, as news of a massive cyclospora outbreak – possibly linked to contaminated lettuce – made headlines, Chopt’s traffic dropped 7.1 percent compared to the network’s average Sunday traffic in 2026, according to data from Placer.ai. On the same day, foot traffic at Panera Bread dropped 7.4% and Sweetgreen dropped 3.1% compared to those chains’ Sunday averages.
Although Placer.ai tells WIRED it only has “a few days of data to process,” the company says the decline in visitors to locations with “lettuce-heavy menus” began around July 10.
Industry averages suggest customers were more willing to switch away from salad chains, and foot traffic at quick-service chains such as McDonald’s, Chick-fil-A and Wendy’s increased by 0.8% compared to average traffic on Sundays. Traffic at all fast-casual chains, whose menus typically include more fresh products than competing fast-food outlets, fell by 2.4%.
According to the latest estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, none of these salad chains have been linked to the outbreak, which may have sickened nearly 7,000 people. In fact, federal authorities have yet to name any ingredient, grower or supplier as a potential cause.
However, the Department of Health and Human Services in Michigan, the state where the outbreak began, identified lettuce or salad greens as a “potential source.” Previous cyclospora outbreaks have been linked to raw produce, including herbs, raspberries and lettuce. The easiest way to kill the parasite is with heat, and people usually don’t cook berries or fresh vegetables.
Wall Street also seems spooked by raging turbo diarrhea. At press time, Sweetgreen shares are down 23.3 percent over the last five days. (Chopt and Panera Bread are privately held companies). None of the “lettuce poisoned” chains responded to WIRED’s request for comment.
Although Sweetgreen’s shares are suffering, the only chain suspected of being linked to the epidemic is Taco Bell. Some Detroit-area locations have posted notices that they are “currently unable to sell lettuce, cilantro, pico de gallo and guacamole due to the nationwide recall,” and Washington Post. said health officials were investigating whether the chain played a role in the outbreak.
Shares of Taco Bell’s parent company, Yum Brands, are down 7.2 percent over the past five days. Placer.ai found that Taco Bell’s foot traffic was down 5.8 percent on July 11 compared to the chain’s average Sunday traffic. In Michigan, where the number of cases reached 4,312, traffic was down 11.5 percent from the average on Sunday. Widespread concern on the Internet about the risk of contracting the parasite may continue to deter potential gordita buyers.
However, not everyone is afraid of green leaves. Two customers outside Sweetgreen’s location in Manhattan’s Financial District told WIRED on Thursday that they had not even heard of the cyclospora outbreak. Recent York has significantly fewer cases than Michigan, with 510 cases so far in 2026. However, Recent York has more than 380 cases, which as of today is a three-fold boost from last year. according to the local sanitary inspectorate.
A few blocks away, near Chopt, Victoria Atweh had nothing but positive things to say about her first visit to the salad chain.
As for the cyclospora epidemic, Atweh says, “Honestly, I haven’t even thought about it.”