New Delhi, July 27 -- Taco Bell experienced a sharp drop in customer traffic after a Cyclospora parasite outbreak linked to contaminated lettuce raised food safety concerns across the United States. Customer visits to Taco Bell restaurants on July 17 were about 31% below the chain's average Friday traffic for the year, according to location analytics firm Placer.ai, as cited by Forbes.

The decline came after health authorities connected a multistate Cyclospora outbreak to shredded iceberg lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms and served at Taco Bell and other restaurant chains.

The outbreak investigation has now expanded to include Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania, in addition to Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia...