With parasitic diarrhea sweeping the US, pour one out for toddler parents.
Health investigators still can’t pinpoint exactly which produce is responsible for the outbreak of cyclosporiasis, but they are urging caution around several foods — including lettuce, leafy greens, and berries.
That’s tough for people with little kids. These days, toddlers basically run on berries.
Blueberry consumption alone has grown more than 10-fold since 1980, according to USDA data published by The Washington Post. Strawberry and raspberry consumption is way up, too.
“We get one large container of blueberries a week, and two large containers of strawberries,” Jamie Heimos, who has a 1-year-old son and a 4-year-old daughter, told Business Insider.
Now, she’s not sure what to do with her supply of (very expensive) fruit that anchors snack time. Heimos, a child therapist based in St Louis, Missouri, posted about her predicament on TikTok, prompting thousands of comments.
“People keep saying, ‘Just make a jam! Just make a pie!'” Heimos said. “I don’t have time for that! I run my own business, I’m a therapist, I have two kids, my husband is traveling. You have to make it, then clean it up… I don’t have time for that.”
She is hardly alone. Parents are scrambling to work out the right snacks to put on their kids’ plates, wading through a ton of confusion and misinformation in the process.
Social media hasn’t helped. TikTok and Instagram are full of advice to soak berries in vinegar, buy specialty produce washes, or even give children “parasite cleanses” — recommendations experts say are unsupported by evidence and, in some cases, potentially harmful.
Berries are wildly popular now. They are also difficult to sanitize.
The main reason kids today eat a lot more berries than they ever did is because of the global supply chain. Now, you can get berries year-round.
That’s great news for kids and parents. Berries — though increasingly expensive — sit in the center of the Venn diagram of delicious, nutritious, and easy to hold and serve.
“They can be served in so many ways,” Cinthia Scott, a pediatric dietitian and lactation consultant in Alabama, told Business Insider. “Also, when a child sees a food that looks the same every time, they’re very comfortable with that food. So things like beans or berries, that always kind of look the same, versus other fruits that might have more variable changes in them.”
“I know I am not alone in having what I call, ‘berry toddlers!'” Jenna Werner, a registered dietitian and mom-of-three, told Business Insider. Werner’s kids, aged 1, 2, and 5, “literally would survive off berries, specifically raspberries, if they could.”
Ironically, the very things that make berries toddler-perfect also make them difficult during a foodborne illness outbreak.
Their bumpy ridges are hard to clean, and they’re easy to squish when washing them.
Plus, much of the year-round supply — making berries so familiar to kids — now comes through an international supply chain, with imports from countries including Mexico, Peru, and Chile. That means they often travel through longer supply chains before reaching grocery stores.
Should parents stop buying berries?
Not necessarily. Berries are great sources of fiber and vitamins, and there is no evidence that berries are a source of this outbreak.
Still, now is a good time to be careful about what you’re buying and how you’re preparing it.
Let’s run through some common points of confusion:
Can I wash the parasite off?
No.
Some people on social media are advocating washing produce with vinegar or baking soda, or even buying expensive products marketed online as parasite killers.
Per the CDC, you can’t remove a parasite from a berry by washing it. The only way to kill the parasite Cyclospora is by heating your food to 158 F.
Are frozen berries safer?
The CDC does not have a firm answer on this.
The freezing process does not kill Cyclospora. However, there has never been a Cyclospora outbreak linked to frozen foods.
Experts say that the washing and freezing process involved in packaging frozen foods may help to reduce the risk of the parasite taking root.
The CDC believes the current cyclosporiasis outbreak started on May 1, 2026. While berries that were frozen before that date may be safe, the CDC has not given a clear indication either way.
“We’re steering clear of frozen berries for now until we get the all-clear,” Werner said.
What if you buy local?
Local produce has a lower risk of carrying bacteria or parasites because it passes through fewer hands and fewer processing steps.
However, it is still not a surefire way to avoid the parasite, since the CDC has not identified the outbreak’s origin.
What if you heat the berries?
Yes! That works. Heating food to 158F will kill the parasite and make the food safe to eat.
“I made a bunch of chia seed jam, and it’s pretty easy,” Scott said. “You just put the berries in the stove with some chia seeds and lemon juice and you let them simmer. That’s it.”
What should you feed your kids?
Werner is feeding her kids things she can peel, such as:
- nectarines and peaches (washing and removing the skin)
- oranges
- bananas
- apples
- cucumbers (peeled)
- watermelon
- cantaloupe
“What a great time to explore new foods with your kids and new textures too,” Werner said. “It’s a great time to grill all your veggies and some produce like peaches and pineapple.”
The takeaway for toddler parents
Above all, don’t panic — not least because lettuce, not berries, is currently the leading suspect in this outbreak.
“In this information ecosystem, it can be so tough, especially as a mom,” Bri Dineen, a registered nurse and mom of two who posts on social media as Bri Motherhood, told Business Insider. “We’re such targets for so much misinformation, and we’re just trying to protect our kids.”
Dineen is feeding her kids mandarins and bananas, and encouraging her thousands of followers to seek professional advice from their pediatricians if they feel overwhelmed.
Heimos, a therapist who focuses on helping kids and their parents feel less overwhelmed, said if anyone can get through this confusing outbreak with a cool head, it’s toddler parents.
“We’ve navigated hard things as parents in the past. We’ll be okay.”
Read the original article on Business Insider
The post The Cyclospora outbreak has every toddler parent asking the same question: Are berries safe? appeared first on Business Insider.
