7 Grocery Store Brand Lettuces That Reportedly Come From Taylor Farms

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The recent Cyclospora outbreak has blown up in more ways than one. There was a positive test, a call to the White House, a false-positive announcement, a voluntary recall, a whole lot of speculation, and the first set of fiery lawsuits. At the center of it all is the controversial lettuce brand, Taylor Farms — the company that issued the voluntary recall on iceberg lettuce on July 17. Since then, the company has temporarily suspended production of certain products. However, the company has a vast, worldwide reach as the leading producer of salads across the United States.

Not only does Taylor Farms supply distributors like Sysco, but it also supplies many store-brand salad products. The Food and Drug Administration has a complete list of recalled products available if you want to check for anything suspicious, but consumers are going to great efforts to uncover other store-brand suspects that are connected to the outbreak. When it comes to distribution and suppliers, the layers can be multi-faceted, and trying to find which store brands come from Taylor Farms can be tricky — so here's a list of seven that reportedly do. 

Walmart was directly linked to the Cyclospora outbreak and Taylor Farms via its store brand Marketside shredded lettuce and iceberg salad. These two Marketside products were the only two direct-to-consumer retail products listed on the Taylor Farms recall, which draws an evident line between the two. While Walmart stores in Florida and Georgia started pulling the products off the shelves on July 19, the company made a statement declaring this was a precautionary move and there were no cases linked directly to the company's products.

You might not recognize the name straight away, but the logo may very well look familiar. Earthbound Farm Organic carries bagged salad kits, fresh veggies, and snack trays, and its products are available in many stores, including Target, Sprouts Farmers Market, The Fresh Market, and many others. However, Earthbound Farm is owned by Taylor Farms, and that is giving some customers pause. Now, none of the products from Earthbound Farm seem to have iceberg as an ingredient, but there is one bagged salad that lists leafy greens: the Lemon Arugula Salad Kit. 

Taylor Farms gained the Eat Smart brand and production facilities in 2021 when it acquired the Curation Foods business from the Landec Corporation. Originally a chef-inspired, clean eating brand, Eat Smart still offers products like bagged salads and individual salad kits. While Eat Smart salads are available at major retailers in the U.S., there are currently no official recalls of any of the salads or ingredients. But just like Earthbound Farm, it gives customers concern knowing the brand's close association with the Cyclospora outbreak.

Green Giant Fresh and Taylor Farms first teamed up in 2013 to introduce new vegetable products under the Green Giant Fresh label. There is no evidence of the company's continued partnership nor any dissolvement, but the two companies do have a past. The Green Giant label offers a wide variety of fresh and chopped produce, including iceberg and leafy greens, across more than 200 branded goods. Products are available at many grocery stores and retailers that sell food products.

Kroger has a controversial history with Taylor Farms, which is confirmed to produce salads for the store label due to a 2024 recall. Kroger's Apple Walnut with Chicken Salad Kit for One, packaged by Taylor Farms, was recalled due to mislabeling issues. One thing that sticks out in this recall is the lot codes, which begin with "TFPM." The independent investigative reporting site, Snopes, shared an ongoing investigation into Taylor Farms lot codes. Generally printed near the "use by" date, products that are suspected to come from Taylor Farms have lot codes that begin with "TF", "TFRS," "TFMX," "TFRB," and "TFPM."

The Target label Good & Gather salad kits and lettuce are getting a lot of attention from news outlets and customers for possibly being supplied by Taylor Farms. CBS named Taylor Farms a "key supplier of lettuce and other produce" to Target. But are those products labeled as Taylor Farms, or under a Target brand? That answer is difficult to decipher. Target did undergo a recall of Taylor Farms brand Eat Smart salads in 2018, so there is a history. But we could not verify the third-party supplier of the Good & Gather salad.

In 2020, Taylor Farms partnered with Whole Foods for a whole new grocery store adventure called 365. In the news release by Taylor Farms, the company stated, "To meet 365's need for fresh, high-quality produce, Taylor Farms' most popular products will be offered." This included vegetables and salad kits and gives the impression that these products will be under the new 365 brand. Again, there have been no recalls regarding Whole Foods produce. However, as cases continue to rise, you could possibly be seeing more any day.