Taco Bell is offering customers a deal, and one that avoids the bad press the chain has recently received.
Taco Bell's Mexican Pizza, which typically costs $5.39 to $6.99, is available for $1 on Tuesday at participating locations as the chain works to win back customers following a multistate cyclospora outbreak linked to lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms and used at the fast-food restaurants.
The one-day deal is valid in restaurants, at kiosks and through the Taco Bell app and website while supplies last, with a limit of one per account. Customers can purchase either the beef or vegetarian version of the Mexican Pizza for $1, plus tax, with the deal limited to one per transaction. The offer runs from 8 a.m. through 11:59 p.m. PT.
Taco Bell Rewards members can also score a $1 regular or medium drink, including fountain drinks, Freezes and Refrescas, through the app on the same day as the Mexican Pizza promotion.
The offer follows the chain's $1 Enchirito deal on July 22 - another menu item that does not contain lettuce. Taco Bell has not said the discounts are tied to the recent foodborne illnesses. The outbreak has left more than 11,500 people sick across the U.S.
The promotions come as Taco Bell's customer traffic fell by more than 30 percent on July 17 compared with the chain's average Friday foot traffic earlier this year, according to location analytics firm Placer.ai, USA Today reports.
Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention linked shredded iceberg lettuce served at select Taco Bell restaurants to a multistate cyclospora outbreak. The parasitic illness can cause prolonged diarrhea and other gastrointestinal symptoms, and the FDA says thousands of people across nine states who reported eating at Taco Bell have become ill.
Cyclosporiasis is a parasitic infection that can cause prolonged watery diarrhea and other gastrointestinal symptoms.
Cyclospora cases have reached record levels in the U.S., with the CDC reporting more than 4,100 confirmed cases and investigating over 7,400 additional likely cases across 41 states since May 1. Health officials say the outbreak investigation is ongoing and could involve other restaurants, retailers or distributors.
Taylor Farms voluntarily recalled iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico on July 17 after investigators linked it to Taco Bell locations visited by sick customers.
Although the FDA later determined an initially positive lettuce sample was a false positive, the agency said its traceback investigation still points to shredded iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms' central Mexico operations as the likely source of the outbreak.
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