Local restaurants taking extra precautions to try and keep Cyclosporiasis out of their eateries
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Fear of the nasty parasite causing Cyclosporiasis may have some Michiana shoppers changing what they buy, and where they eat.
The main concern right now is fresh lettuce and bagged lettuce for the Michigan outbreak, and there are local cases being reported.
According to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, current results indicate lettuce or salad greens as a potential source for the outbreak.
At South Bend's Tossed To Go, that's something owner Mike Marks is keeping a very close eye on. Every day of the week, Mike Marks is chopping lettuce inside Tossed To Go. With the recent cyclosporiasis cases making headlines, he's making sure each and every guideline is followed.
"I don't buy lettuce from the grocery store, we don't buy shredded iceberg, we don't use basil, we don't use cilantro, so all the things that are red flagged, we don't use. I don't use anything pre-cut, we cut it all in house, and I'm the only one who touches the lettuce, I go through every single leaf of lettuce that comes in and out of this restaurant personally," said Marks.
Marks says he conducts quality checks immediately when a produce order arrives at his store and tells me he won't hesitate to send back products that don't meet his standards.
Tossed To Go opened in 2020, in the throes of the pandemic, and after his business survived that challenge, he refuses to let even a single leaf go uninspected.
"I've been in the business for over 30 years, and food safety is the number one important thing to keep you in business, you get people that get sick off of your food, and you're done. Especially as a small independent, quality and safety is priority one," said Marks.
A few miles away, CoreLife Eatery district manager Clyde Foster is also taking every precaution he can to keep Cyclosporiasis out.
Foster not only manages the Mishawaka store, but also works with multiple locations in Michigan, which is currently seeing some of the highest number of cases.
"We're doing a little bit extra on that, so we're cleaning them off extra, give it a nice little shake, rub and check in between there, and dry them off, peel off the outer layers so that we can hopefully remove anything that might be there to keep the customers safe," said Foster.
ABC57 asked Foster how he felt originally hearing about this disease potentially being caused by lettuce, a product used frequently in his restaurant.
He said he and his staff made it a priority to jump in front of the issue as fast as they could.
"We just had a meeting yesterday about this so everybody's aware and we're all on the same page, to make sure that everybody from the GM down to every single person on the team is ensuring that especially the leafy greens are cleaned very well, inspected, dried, and given to the customer with the utmost confidence that we are not giving them a product that will affect them adversely," said Foster.
The Indiana Department of Health says symptoms of Cyclosporiasis can begin around 7 days after exposure but can also range from 2 to 14 days.