A Taylor Farms sample tested for the cyclospora parasite has given a "false positive", the US FDA has said, amid an outbreak that has led the company to recall products across 20 states.
According to the FDA, based on data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1,644 people have been infected with cyclospora, the parasite that causes cyclosporiasis.
Sources for The Washington Post last week named Taylor Farms as the potential supplier of contaminated iceberg lettuce, which had been supplied to Taco Bell restaurants in five US states – Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia.
On Friday and Saturday (17-18 July), the FDA confirmed Taylor Farms as the source from a site in Mexico – Taylor Farms de Mexico – announcing positive sampling before backtracking on that claim on Sunday.
“Due to the complexity in detection of cyclospora, FDA laboratory experts re-reviewed the sample results and have concluded that the finding does not represent true amplification and should be considered a false positive,” the state agency announced yesterday.
“FDA has notified Taylor Farms and continues working with the firm to ensure product implicated in this outbreak has been removed from the market.”
The regulator added that as of 19 July, “there are no confirmed positive sample results for product testing for cyclospora”.
Previously, the FDA had said the illnesses were reported from people with “exposure” to Taco Bell restaurants in the five US states, with the cases occurring from 13 May to 13 July. There have been 94 hospitalisations but no deaths.
People infected with cyclosporiasis typically experience symptoms such as diarrhoea, vomiting and body aches.
On 16 July, the FDA had said its “traceback investigation has identified convergence on a single supplier of iceberg lettuce from Mexico used by Taco Bell locations where sick people ate before becoming ill”.
That was updated on Friday, saying that same investigation had identified Taylor Farms de Mexico, which announced the same day the company would initiate a recall and remove all iceberg lettuce sourced from “central Mexico”.
Taylor Farms, through its Taylor Fresh Foods business unit, issued a statement yesterday acknowledging the positive testing by the FDA but also the subsequent withdrawal of that assessment.
“Based on initial information provided by health officials, in an abundance of caution, we completed a voluntary recall of iceberg lettuce from central Mexico,” Taylor Fresh Foods said. “Recalled product was limited to iceberg lettuce grown and processed in central Mexico.
“All other Taylor Farms’ products, including all Taylor Farms brand products available for purchase, are not involved in the recall.”
In its statement on Friday, Taylor Farms de Mexico, based in Guanajuato, said it was “voluntarily removing all iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico from the US market because it has the potential to be contaminated with cyclospora”, warning customers to discard any lettuce they had purchased.
The company said it had stopped taking iceberg lettuce from the “implicated lot” and had suspended distribution from the source.
In a statement provided to Just Food on Friday via Taylor Fresh Foods, the company said: “As a family owned and operated company, we are deeply concerned for those who became ill, their families, and the many Americans whose trust in the safety of their fresh produce has been shaken.
“That trust is something we’ve worked for decades to earn, and we are committed to doing everything in our power to restore that confidence.”
