Cyclospora outbreak poll finds 4 in 10 cutting back on produce
A CBS News/YouGov survey finds many Americans are watching the cyclospora outbreak and changing what they buy or eat.
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
3 min read
A new cyclospora outbreak poll from CBS News and YouGov finds the food scare is now changing grocery habits for a sizable slice of the country: four in 10 Americans say they are buying or eating less produce because of it.
The survey found that most Americans are following news about the outbreak at least somewhat closely. CBS News reported that attention to the cyclospora parasite is running nearly as high as attention to the conflict with Iran.
The pullback at the produce aisle is not spread evenly. According to the CBS News/YouGov survey, women are somewhat more likely than men to say they are buying or eating less produce, and older adults are more likely than younger adults to say the same.
What did the cyclospora outbreak poll find?
The poll found that public attention is high, shopping behavior is shifting, and confidence in the Food and Drug Administration is mixed. People who said they are following cyclospora news very closely were especially likely to report buying or eating less produce, CBS News said.
Cyclospora is the parasite at the center of the outbreak covered in the survey. The poll did not say that all produce is affected; it measured whether people are changing their behavior because of the outbreak news.
The FDA is investigating a new cyclospora outbreak, according to CBS News. The network has also reported on outbreak-related developments involving iceberg lettuce, including links to Pennsylvania and cases in Maryland, but the poll focused on public reaction nationwide.
How much confidence do Americans have in the FDA?
Americans are divided on the FDA’s handling of the outbreak, according to the CBS News/YouGov poll. More respondents said they were confident than not confident in the agency’s ability to deal with it, but only a small share expressed “a lot” of confidence.
Politics appears to shape those views. CBS News reported that Republicans were more likely than Democrats to say they had confidence in the FDA on the outbreak.
The findings point to a public health story that has broken out of the usual food-safety lane and into everyday shopping decisions. For many households, the question is no longer only what investigators find, but what feels safe enough to put in the cart.
The CBS News/YouGov survey was conducted July 22 through July 24, 2026, among a nationally representative sample of 2,193 U.S. adults. The sample was weighted by gender, age, race and education using U.S. Census American Community Survey and Current Population Survey data, as well as 2024 presidential vote. The margin of error was plus or minus 2.7 percentage points.
CBS News published the survey results and poll toplines.
This story draws on original reporting from CBS News.