The FDA still has not named Trader Joe’s as the source of chicken wraps that sickened 50 people in an E. coli outbreak, but the agency has declared that the outbreak is over.
Neither the Food and Drug Administration nor the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) have named the grocery chain in their outbreak investigation reports. However, the FSIS confirmed for USA Today that Trader Joe’s was the source of the chicken wraps.
Both agencies are involved in the investigation because the wraps contain chicken, which is under the jurisdiction of FSIS, and the rest of the ingredients are under FDA jurisdiction. Both agencies say the reason no source of the E. coli has been revealed is that the wraps are past their expiration date and no longer available for sale.
“The implicated wraps were proactively removed from the market before the link to the outbreak was established. At the time of this action, illnesses occurred during one week in August. Since these products were removed from sale and the wraps people ate were out of shelf life, more detailed product information would not have provided consumers with an action they could take to prevent illness. FDA’s outbreak investigation remains active,” the agency reported in its outbreak update on Oct. 28.
The FDA reported that it was tracing ingredients, doing onsite inspections and testing samples, but it still has not revealed what is being traced, what locations are being inspected or what is being tested.
The USDA reports that it is continuing to investigate the E. coli outbreak, but has not revealed any details about that investigation.
There were likely many more sick people in the outbreak than the official count shows. This is because some people do not seek medical attention and others are not specifically tested for E. coli. The CDC estimates that for every confirmed patient in an E. coli outbreak, 26 go undetected.
In other outbreak news, the FDA is investigating a new outbreak of Salmonella Javiana. A source of the pathogen has not been identified. As of Oct. 28 there were 59 confirmed patients. The agency is not reporting any patient details such as their ages or where they live.
For an outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes, the patient count has increased from 46 to 50 in the past week. The FDA is not reporting the patients’ ages or where they live. The agency has begun traceback, onsite inspections and sample testing, but it is not reporting what food it is tracing, what locations are being inspected or what is being tested. The outbreak was first posted on Sept. 23. There could be additional patients added to the count because it can take up to 70 days for symptoms of Listeria infection to develop.
For an outbreak of Cyclospora infections from a catered lunch that sickened 18 people, the FDA has closed its investigation. The agency had not previously reported the source of the parasite and did not provide the name of the caterer or the event involved. The agency has posted an Executive Incident Summary Abstract that is heavily redacted.
The summary in its entirety states:
“On 6/5/2026, CDC notified CORE Signals of a cyclosporiasis outbreak being investigated by (redacted) associated with a catered lunch from (redacted) (redacted). The leading items of interest identified by CDC and (redacted) were (redacted). CORE conducted a traceback investigation through the single point of service, to their reported (redacted) sole produce distributor, was sourced from (redacted) (redacted) multiple were sourced from (redacted) (redacted) (redacted) (redacted), and sourced from (redacted). CORE issued one assignment to FDA’s Office of Human Food Inspectorate East II for traceback record collection from (redacted). No FDA laboratory samples were collected, and no product or firm actions were taken. No single produce item could be named as the suspect ingredient based on the epidemiologic information collected; no apparent supplier connection to other Cyclospora clusters in the 2026 season was identified. As of 9/3/2026, this outbreak involved a total of 18 confirmed cases across (redacted) states: (redacted) with two hospitalizations and no deaths.”
