October 23, 2026, 6:05 p.m. ET
The source of the current outbreak of E. coli that sickened at least 50 people was the chicken wraps sold at Trader Joe’s, federal health officials confirmed.
The Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) confirmed the link in an email to USA TODAY on Friday, Oct. 23, following a USA TODAY article about a lawsuit and investigation related to the outbreak. The lawsuit, as well as state investigative documents reviewed by USA TODAY, cite Trader Joe’s Tarragon Chicken Salad Wraps as a source.
Trader Joe’s confirmed in an Oct. 20 email to USA TODAY that it had pulled its tarragon chicken salad wraps from shelves in 9 states after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) informed the chain in September that there might be a “possible problem” with them.
“THE E.coli The investigation into the O157:H7 (2026-04) outbreak identified ready-to-eat, multi-ingredient chicken wraps from certain Trader Joe’s stores as a common exposure among people who became ill,” FSIS said in its release. “Wraps reported by some cases very early in the investigation were proactively removed from the market by Trader Joe’s before a link to the outbreak was established.”
The Food and Drug Administration, along with the USDA, previously identified the source of the outbreak only as an unnamed “ready-to-eat multi-ingredient wrap with chicken.” Public FDA and FSIS entries regarding the outbreak still listed unspecified packaging as of Friday, October 23.
The USDA is still working alongside other agencies to investigate the source ingredient, he said, and “extensive product testing” has all come back negative. It’s unlikely to be chicken, he adds, because chicken is rarely the source of the outbreak strain of E. coli (E. coli O157:H7), also known as E. Shiga toxin-producing coli, or STEC, a type of foodborne illness that sometimes causes a serious illness that can lead to kidney damage called hemolytic uremic syndrome.
Historically, health agencies like the FDA and USDA have designated multi-ingredient products during associated outbreaks, even if a specific ingredient was not yet identified as the culprit. In this case, FSIS said the products were removed from shelves before a link could be confirmed and a recall could be initiated.
“FSIS promptly releases information to the public through recalls and public health alerts when a product is linked to illnesses and there is actionable information for consumers. If a continuing public health risk is identified, agencies will take appropriate action,” the release said.
Food attorney Bill Marler, who represents two women who say they got sick after eating the wraps in a lawsuit against Trader Joe’s, told USA TODAY he thinks the FDA and USDA should have publicly named the source, even if the products were pulled from shelves.
“The only thing FSIS is holding on to is that the product is no longer commercially available; there’s no reason to tell anyone that,” he said. “But when they can identify the product, the processor or the producer, they should be open and tell the public. The public has a right to know.”
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