Any businesses associated with a foodborne illness outbreak could have their reputation tarnished due to uncertainty around ingredients, cleanliness and overall safety, but it does not have to stay that way. Whether the outbreak is cyclospora, E. coli, salmonella or another contaminant, once an investigation starts and media outlets report on impacted brands, consumers react—often with their wallets. In a September 2026 food recall survey by global standards organization GS1, 94% of U.S. adults said they are concerned about the frequency of food recalls and 67% have avoided an entire food product category following a recall.
“Food recalls are often accompanied by loss of customer faith, and managing the reputation element of the recall is key,” said Ed Mitchell, head of product recall insurance company BluNiche UK. “Losing sales following a recall can be the largest part of the overall cost incurred. This can take several forms: a drop in sales while the facility is out of action; a loss or reduction of a contract with a customer; or in the worst-case scenario, a loss of consumer confidence, which can affect longer-term sales.”
Many chain restaurants and packaged goods brands felt the impact of this summer’s cyclospora outbreak, which sickened over 11,000 people across 20 states. While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) traced the contamination back to iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms de Mexico, many consumers avoided all Taylor Farms products, including products from the many brands Taylor Farms owns, such as Earthbound Farms.
Taco Bell, which uses Taylor Farms to supply their lettuce, felt the brunt of the impact because they were named as a possible source of the outbreak by early food safety investigations and the media. Even though the origin of the outbreak was traced to a supplier and not the fast-food chain itself, foot traffic at Taco Bell locations went down 31% and shares of Taco Bell’s parent company, Yum! Brands, fell 10%—a loss of about $4.3 billion in market value.
This was not the only serious foodborne illness outbreak to occur in the United States this summer. For example, there were also investigations into salmonella cases tied to jalapeños served at Chipotle and Qdoba. After a woman in Minnesota was hospitalized due to complications from an illness caused by eating tainted jalapeños, she sued Chipotle for more than $75,000. With news of the contamination, the company’s stock fell almost 10% in the beginning of August and foot traffic dropped about 7%.
Gaining Back Customer Trust
According to the GS1 survey, 66% of U.S. adults are hesitant to purchase from the same brand again after a food safety crisis, but many brands have been able to recover from a drop in customer trust after a recall. According to Bob Carpenter, president and CEO of GS1 US, “The challenge is making recall response more precise so companies can quickly identify and remove affected products while giving consumers clearer information about what is—and is not—impacted.”
Whether it is a manufacturer or customer-facing business, there are a few key strategies that can help a food company to recover from a foodborne illness outbreak, including:
1. Offer Customer Incentives
Bringing customers back through the doors is crucial after a food safety crisis. Customers are often a bit apprehensive to visit a restaurant even after tainted ingredients have been removed or replaced, so offering customers a reason to return can help bring foot traffic back up. Discounts, extra reward points or coupons for future visits with a purchase can go a long way with customers.
After an onion recall impacted McDonald’s in 2024, the company invested over $100 million to earn customer trust back. About $35 million of that money was spent on promotional campaigns and value deals, including $5 meal deals and promotions on popular items like chicken nuggets.
2. Focus on Consistent Messaging
Companies do not always get to make the first statement after an incident—media outlets or government agencies usually set the tone. This does not always work to a company’s advantage. During the cyclospora outbreak, there was inconsistent messaging around the source of the outbreak, what produce was involved and who was impacted. As a result, customers found it difficult to determine what was safe and many assigned blame to the wrong companies.
It is important for companies to keep customers in the loop even if there is little information. Typically, statements are written by publicists and then go through legal before they are made public. This process can take time, but companies need to move quickly. Waiting to have all the answers often makes companies far too late. It is much easier to retain trust than it is to regain it after an event.
Companies not directly involved in an outbreak may still need to do damage control. As consumers began to avoid all lettuce and other produce due to uncertainty about ingredients contaminated with cyclospora, quick-service salad chain Sweetgreen experienced decreased foot traffic and falling stock prices. The company took to social media to say they had no connection to the outbreak, and the CEO explained the restaurant’s supply chain traceability to clear up any doubt and demonstrate that Sweetgreen did not carry any of the contaminated lettuce from Taylor Farms.
3. Cooperate with Authorities
It is crucial for any food business involved in or associated with a food recall to not only cooperate with authorities but make clear to customers that they are doing so. Cooperation with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Centers for Disease Control usually comes in the form of removal of contaminated ingredients and voluntary recalls. In mid-July, before the source of the outbreak was found, Taco Bell released a statement to media outlets that said they would continue to monitor the situation and follow guidance of public health authorities.
Similarly, after the FDA traceback investigation in July identified a Taylor Farms plant in Mexico as the provider of the contaminated iceberg lettuce, the company issued a statement saying it was cooperating with the FDA and the ongoing investigation and that it was voluntarily removing all iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico from the U.S. market. Chipotle, Qdoba and Taco Bell all voluntarily removed their respective contaminated ingredients in response to their foodborne illness outbreaks this summer.
Insurance Protections for Future Food Safety Crises
A foodborne illness outbreak comes with expenses that a company might not have budgeted for, and specific insurance can help fill in the gaps left by general liability and product liability policies. Those expenses include lost profit, recall costs, business interruption during the recall, rehabilitation and brand restoration expenses, and consultant or adviser costs. While purchasing food recall-related insurance cannot retroactively cover expenses from an incident, it can offer relief if a future crisis arises.
When purchasing product recall insurance, it is important for restaurants and other food businesses to make sure the policy covers voluntary recalls as well as recalls mandated by regulators, as not all policies do so by default. According to food safety consulting firm KTL, companies should ask these key questions when exploring product recall or contamination insurance:
- Will the policy cover recalls where there is limited likelihood of bodily injury?
- What if the recall if only requested as opposed to ordered by the FDA or USDA?
- Will the policy cover loss from an FDA administrative detention?
- If the company experiences financial loss due to a recall and then the facts underlying the recall turn out to be incorrect, are those losses still covered?
- Does the policy exclude coverage if the recall was due to a problem with a competitor’s product? What if the product breaches a warranty of fitness?
- Does the policy provide coverage for claims by third parties such as customers?
- Does the policy cover lost profits or revenue? What about logistical and repair costs, like shipping and destruction, public relations, product replacement and brand reputation or damage? How is the loss calculated?
“It is important for a food company to consider that recalls are not only caused by manufacturing errors in their own factories,” Mitchell said. “Recalls can be caused by malicious tampering, food fraud and contamination made by their suppliers and contract manufacturers. A common mistake made by food companies is to think that the costs associated with recalls are covered by their product liability policy. Not only are product recalls usually excluded from these policies, but a product liability policy is also concerned with third-party liability costs as opposed to the majority of first-party costs a food company will suffer in a recall.”