Lettuce. Jalapenos. Eggs. Blueberries. Summer 2026 was the summer of food recalls, with multiple incidents impacting restaurants and other food businesses nationwide. While recalls don’t typically originate at the restaurant level, recent incidents involved restaurants—including Taco Bell, Chipotle, and QDOBA—who received contaminated products from their suppliers. Of course, the summer’s biggest recall was the Cyclospora outbreak linked to iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms and distributed to Taco Bell. Additionally, jalapeños—contaminated with Salmonella and imported from Mexico—were distributed to Chipotle and QDOBA restaurants. While it feels like recalls surged this year, the number of recalls is actually on par with recent years. What’s changing is the scope and scale of these incidents. Fewer, larger suppliers now serve more points of sale. As a result, a single contamination event can impact products across many distribution points. One safety breach can cause widespread damage. Compounding these problems, international supply chains increase complexity. Cross-border [...]