--- title: There Might Be Poop on Your Cilantro description: The FDA has banned some Mexican imports canonical: https://time.com/3974244/cilantro-feces/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-28T01:02:46.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:22:39.648Z article:section: Health og:title: There Might Be Poop on Your Cilantro og:description: The FDA has banned some Mexican imports og:url: https://time.com/3974244/cilantro-feces/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt22efc66d456dcb7b/69885cb3196cf4561b0374a5/gettyimages-145095950.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 145095950 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: There Might Be Poop on Your Cilantro twitter:description: The FDA has banned some Mexican imports twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt22efc66d456dcb7b/69885cb3196cf4561b0374a5/gettyimages-145095950.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # There Might Be Poop on Your Cilantro ## Video: The Organic Taste Test [Watch (HLS stream): The Organic Taste Test](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Hq4cf9Vb.m3u8) (5:38)  _Published 2010-08-19. Food writer Josh Ozersky asks New York city chefs to sample organic and non-organic foods to see which pleases the palate more._ by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Jul 28, 2015 1:02 AM CUT  Close Up Of Cilantro, Also Known As Coriander And Chinese Parsley Close Up Of Cilantro, Also Known As Coriander And Chinese ParsleyEducation Images—UIG/Getty Images by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Jul 28, 2015 1:02 AM CUT Guacamole fans, beware: the FDA has [banned](http://wtop.com/health/2015/07/fda-bans-some-mexican-cilantro-after-feces-found-in-fields/ "undefined") the import of some fresh cilantro from Mexico after evidence showed the crop could be tainted with human feces. Several farms in Puebla were linked to outbreaks of stomach illness in 2013 and 2014 in the U.S., the Associated Press reports. The FDA believes they may also have caused more recent outbreaks due to the presence of the cyclospora parasite. Investigators found that some farms had no toilets for employees, and discovered feces and toilet paper in the fields. The resulting ban will impact shipments from April through August in the coming years unless farms in the region can show that conditions have improved. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3974244/cilantro-feces/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3974244/cilantro-feces/"},"headline":"There Might Be Poop on Your Cilantro","datePublished":"2015-07-28T01:02:46.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:22:39.648Z","description":"The FDA has banned some Mexican imports","url":"https://time.com/3974244/cilantro-feces/","keywords":["Infectious Disease","Newsfeed","Mexico"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt22efc66d456dcb7b/69885cb3196cf4561b0374a5/gettyimages-145095950.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt22efc66d456dcb7b/69885cb3196cf4561b0374a5/gettyimages-145095950.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"145095950","caption":"145095950","creditText":"Education Images—UIG/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/infectious-disease/","name":"Infectious Disease"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3974244/cilantro-feces/","name":"There Might Be Poop on Your Cilantro"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Organic Taste Test","description":"Food writer Josh Ozersky asks New York city chefs to sample organic and non-organic foods to see which pleases the palate more.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Hq4cf9Vb/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2010-08-19T23:06:36.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Hq4cf9Vb.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3974244/cilantro-feces/","duration":"PT5M38S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3974244/cilantro-feces/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```