Big Lettuce meets Small Intestine
Planet Money
- Published
- July 22, 2026
- Duration
- 25:36
- Summary source
- description
- Last updated
- Aug 19, 2026
Discusses The cyclospora outbreak that’s sickening thousands of Americans got us interested in the rise of Big…
Summary
The cyclospora outbreak that’s sickening thousands of Americans got us interested in the rise of Big Lettuce, and the challenges of keeping it clean. So on today’s show, we tell you just how much lettuce Americans eat every year (SO MUCH!), how bagged lettuce came to dominate grocery store shelves, what that means for food safety, and why these outbreaks …
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Show notes
The cyclospora outbreak that’s sickening thousands of Americans got us interested in the rise of Big Lettuce, and the challenges of keeping it clean. So on today’s show, we tell you just how much lettuce Americans eat every year (SO MUCH!), how bagged lettuce came to dominate grocery store shelves, what that means for food safety, and why these outbreaks continue to happen — despite the FDA’s efforts to stop them.Check out other related episodes:Food Scare SquadHow refrigeration took over the wo