A Note from Sunswell Greens on the Cyclospora Outbreak
At Sunswell Greens food safety starts long before any product reaches your table. It's built into where and how we grow.
We understand the recent Cyclospora outbreak of foodborne illness raises questions about what this means for the greens we eat. We wanted to share why our growing environment looks so different from a traditional field, and how our hydroponic greenhouse practices differ from the conditions behind this outbreak.
What makes our growing model different:
Grown in water, not soil
Sunswell Greens farms hydroponically: in water rather than ground, which eliminates soil as a contamination pathway. Our plants’ roots never touch open fields, irrigation canals, or the natural runoff that can carry contamination in traditional farming.
Watered from the roots not the leaves
All Sunswell Greens lettuce is grown hydroponically which, by its nature, is watered from the pool that the plant floats in. Irrigation water sprayed on top of produce is one of the significant sources of food borne pathogens.
Water is purified on-site
Every drop that reaches our plants passes through a reverse-osmosis purification system and is regularly tested. We don't draw from open irrigation canals, rivers, or ponds—the water sources most commonly associated with how cyclospora spreads in field agriculture.
Greenhouses limit outside exposure
Crops aren't exposed to runoff or uncontrolled environmental contact that open fields can't avoid.
Low-touch systems
Our systems are built to keep handling to a minimum between harvest and package, and every employee who does interact with the product follows strict food safety protocols covering hygiene and how produce moves through our facility.
We continue to proactively implement safety procedures and monitor updates from public health agencies closely. In the meantime, our greens are safe. We remain grateful for the trust our retail partners and customers continue to place in us.