The FDA said Sunday that a Taylor Farms lettuce sample it had initially reported as positive for Cyclospora should now be treated as a false positive. After additional laboratory review, agency experts said the result did not show true amplification, narrowing the evidence in an investigation that has already pulled lettuce off the market.
The revised finding matters because the search for the source of the contamination is still active, and the agency said no product samples had produced a confirmed positive Cyclospora result as of Sunday. For readers following the FDA Taylor Farms Cyclospora false positive issue, the shift changes what investigators can point to, even as the case remains open.
Taylor Fresh Foods said the FDA told the company the first result was incorrect and that, at that point, the agency had not identified a single positive product test. The company also said the FDA apologized for the error. The agency said it notified Taylor Farms of the revised finding and is still working with the company and its Taylor Farms de Mexico operation to make sure products tied to the investigation have been removed from the market.
The false-positive reversal comes after a more serious reading on Saturday, when the FDA said a sample of shredded iceberg lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms tested positive for Cyclospora. That earlier finding followed a July 17 recall of iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico after federal investigators traced lettuce served at certain Taco Bell restaurants to Taylor Farms de Mexico. The recall covered iceberg lettuce sent to retail stores, restaurants and other food-service customers.
Taylor Fresh Foods said the recalled product was limited to iceberg lettuce grown and processed in central Mexico, and that all other Taylor Farms products, including all Taylor Farms brand products available for purchase, are not involved. The FDA and its state partners are still collecting and analyzing samples, and the agency said consumers in four states were urged to avoid shredded lettuce while the investigation continues.
That warning reflects the larger public-health concern around Cyclospora, which the FDA said has sickened thousands of people across the U.S. Even with the lab error corrected, the case has not gone away; it has simply lost one of its early pieces of evidence. What remains is a moving investigation into which products, if any, still connect the outbreak to the supply chain that reaches Taco Bell and the market.
