Salad chains are seeing a decline in foot traffic due to cyclosporiosis concerns

Fear of explosives Diarrhea seems to be scaring customers away from salad purveyors in commercial districts and shopping centers across the United States.

On Sunday, July 11, it’s also huge news Cyclospora outbreak— possibly linked to tainted lettuce — made headlines, and Chopt’s traffic fell 7.1 percent, compared to the chain’s average Sunday traffic in 2026, according to Placer.ai data. On the same day, foot traffic at Panera Bread was down 7.4 percent, and Sweetgreen was down 3.1 percent, compared with those chains’ averages on Sunday.

While Placer.ai tells WIRED it only has “a few days of data to work with,” the company says the decline in visitors to places with “lettuce-heavy menus” began around July 10.

Industry averages suggest customers were more likely to ditch salad-heavy chains, with traffic across quick-service chains like McDonald’s, Chick-fil-A and Wendy’s up 0.8 percent compared to average Sunday traffic. Traffic for all fast-casual chains — whose menus tend to include more fresh produce than their fast-casual competitors — fell 2.4 percent.

None of these salad chains have been linked to the outbreak, which may have sickened nearly 7,000 people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest estimates. In fact, federal authorities have not yet identified any ingredient, grower, or supplier as the likely cause.

However, the Department of Health and Human Services in Michigan, the state that was the epicenter of the outbreak, described lettuce or salad greens as a “likely source.” Previous Cyclospora outbreaks have been linked to raw produce, including herbs, berries and lettuce. The easiest way to kill the parasite is heat, and people don’t usually cook fresh berries or vegetables.

Wall Street also seems alarmed by the turbo diarrhea frenzy. At press time, Sweetgreen shares were down 23.3 percent over the past five days. (Chopt and Panera Bread are privately owned businesses.) None of the “lettuce-filled” chains responded to WIRED’s request for comment.

While Sweetgreen stock is suffering, the only chain with suspected links to the outbreak is Taco Bell. Some Detroit-area locations posted notices saying they are “currently unable to sell lettuce, onions, cilantro, pico de gallo, and guacamole due to the nationwide recall.” The Washington Post It stated that health officials are investigating whether the chain played a role in the outbreak.

Shares of Taco Bell’s parent company, Yum Brands, have fallen 7.2 percent in the past five days. Placer.ai found that foot traffic at Taco Bell was down 5.8 percent on July 11 compared to the chain’s average traffic on Sundays. In Michigan – where the number of cases reached 4,312 – traffic was down 11.5 percent compared to Sunday’s average. Concern is spreading online about Risks of parasite infection It could continue to turn away potential gordita buyers.

However, not everyone is afraid of leafy greens. Two customers outside a Sweetgreen location in Manhattan’s financial district told WIRED on Thursday that they hadn’t even heard of the Cyclospora outbreak. New York has far fewer cases than Michigan, with 510 so far in 2026. There are more than 380 cases in New York City, which represents a three-fold increase from last year on this date. According to the local health department.

Outside Chopt Restaurant a few blocks away, Victoria Atwa had nothing but positive things to say about her first visit to the salad chain.

As for the Cyclospora outbreak, Atwa says: “Honestly, I didn’t even think about it.”