Taco Bell is offering deep discounts on menu items without lettuce as it seeks to restore customer confidence after a multistate cyclospora outbreak affected its business. The promotion matters because the chain is attempting to reassure diners while avoiding ingredients linked to the food-safety investigation.

The outbreak, which began surfacing in May, was linked by US regulators to shredded iceberg lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms and sourced from central Mexico. Cyclospora is a microscopic parasite that causes cyclosporiasis, whose hallmark symptom is diarrhoea; Taco Bell’s offers included a $1 Mexican pizza and other lettuce-free options.