Experts say this lettuce may have a lower cyclospora risk—here’s what to know

As the Cyclospora outbreak spreads across the country, consumers are looking at their usual food sources with serious skepticism. But before you swear off salads entirely, there’s a particular type of produce that may be safer: hydroponic produce.

Since accusations that Taco Bell and Taylor Farms lettuce were the source of the outbreak were recently walked back, the CDC has yet to confirm a culprit. But based on previous outbreaks, the microscopic parasite can contaminate anything from bagged salads to basil.

For now, experts recommend opting for whole, unprocessed produce when possible. And no matter what form your fruits and vegetables take, thorough washing and even cooking are recommended to mitigate risk. And hydroponic produce might be another safe option. Here’s what experts want you to know.

What Is Hydroponic Produce?

According to the USDA, hydroponic gardening has been practiced for over a century. But more recently, the technology has evolved to the point where the produce can be grown and distributed commercially at a large scale. Brands that utilize hydroponic gardening, like Gotham Greens and BrightFarms, have popped up at supermarkets across the country.

“In conventional agriculture, plants obtain water and nutrients from the soil and are directly exposed to natural rainfall, runoff, wildlife, wind, and natural variability in soil and environmental conditions,” says Dr. Laura Cammarisano, assistant professor in UC Davis’s Department of Plant Sciences. “In hydroponics, the root zone is physically confined within a managed irrigation system rather than interacting with surrounding soil.”

This managed irrigation system houses plants either on their own or in a substrate such as perlite or coconut coir. Then, in the system, the plants are exposed to water supplemented with the same nutrients you’d find in soil. (It’s where the “hydro” in “hydroponic” comes from.) Some of the most common fruits and vegetables grown with this method include salad greens, herbs, and strawberries.

Jackson Ibelle, hydroponic garden manager at the Institute of Culinary Education, notes that hydroponic gardening is “usually in an enclosed, defined space,” which creates a more controlled environment. Growers can control almost every aspect of the process, from the pH of the water to the humidity of the space. The extent of that control varies with how high-tech a facility is. The brand Oishii, for instance, utilizes AI to maximize pollination of its luxury strawberries.

“In fully enclosed indoor farms, nearly all major aerial and root-zone environmental variables can be continuously monitored and adjusted, allowing crops to be grown under highly consistent conditions throughout the year,” Cammarisano explains. That also means produce can be grown in any part of the country, giving consumers access to more local produce, even if their climates aren’t conducive to traditional growing.

Is Hydroponic Produce Less Likely To Be Contaminated With Cyclospora?

We still don’t know the origins of this particular outbreak. But because hydroponically grown fruits and vegetables are cultivated in controlled environments, there are more ways to avoid contamination than there would be in standard agriculture. “There is less opportunity for the spread of disease because, in theory, it is a fairly locked-down environment without many people or creatures coming in or out,” Ibelle says.

Cyclospora, in particular, gets into produce through feces-contaminated water or soil, or through unhygienic handling during processing. In hydroponic agriculture, contaminated soil is a nonfactor. The water is also meticulously monitored and treated to optimize nutrient concentrations, and many operations source it from prefiltered municipal water. At the Institute of Culinary Education’s hydroponic garden, for example, Ibelle uses filtered New York City tap water to grow plants.

The managed irrigation structures also provide an additional layer of protection. “In many hydroponic systems, the nutrient solution is designed to contact only the roots, whereas some field irrigation methods, particularly overhead irrigation, can directly wet leaves or fruit if irrigation water is contaminated,” Cammarisano says. “As a result, hydroponics reduces some of the contamination pathways commonly encountered in open field production.”

Commercial hydroponic growers have many more avenues to mitigate disease risk than they would with traditional outdoor methods, but that does not eliminate it entirely. Contamination can still be introduced during the harvesting and processing stages, such as through workers’ hands, tools, containers, and surfaces.

“Food safety ultimately depends on effective management practices, including worker hygiene, sanitation of tools and equipment, harvest and post-harvest handling, and preventing contamination of edible plant tissues,” Cammarisano explains. Commercial facilities that supply supermarkets often employ strict sanitation protocols.

While there is no way to truly guarantee that you’re buying non-contaminated lettuce, the structured environment of hydroponic growing can at least offer some degree of confidence while you’re browsing the produce department of your local grocery store.