The news: Traffic to Taco Bell had yet to recover as the cyclospora outbreak came to an end. Same-store traffic between July 6 and September 11 declined 12.2% YoY, per emailed Placer.ai data.

While that’s an improvement from the roughly 30% fall seen at the beginning of the outbreak, customers’ reluctance to return points to ongoing concerns around food safety.

Why it matters: Taco Bell’s struggle to get customers through the door shows that $1 Enchirittos, celebrity partnerships with the likes of Olivia Rodrigo, and new menu items aren’t enough to restore trust in the wake of an outbreak that led to 12,883 reported cases across 21 states, 570 hospitalizations, and two deaths, per the CDC.

While the restaurant chain moved quickly to shore up engagement and restore customer goodwill, consumers on the whole have broader concerns about food safety. Those worries come as trust in some government sources of health information has declined and households adjust their eating habits in wake of the outbreak.

• Just 51% of the public have at least a fair amount of trust in the CDC to provide reliable health information, according to a July KFF poll. Trust in state government officials, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and President Donald Trump is even lower.
• Two-thirds of consumers changed their food buying behavior following the cyclospora outbreak, with 30% buying less fresh produce at the grocery store and 25% consuming less fresh produce when dining out, per a July Ipsos survey.

Implications for food and restaurant companies: With trust in some public health authorities falling, restaurants and retailers may need to do more to reassure customers during food safety crises. Companies can try to mitigate the risk by having stricter standards for suppliers and PR strategies in place to deal with potential outbreaks, preferably ones that emphasize a quick, decisive, and transparent response.

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