by Kevin Killough
Taylor Farms said that the Food and Drug Administration informed the company that a lettuce sample found to have a parasite linked to an outbreak that has made thousands of people ill was the result of a false positive.
“Yesterday, FDA informed Taylor Fresh Foods that one of its iceberg lettuce products from central Mexico had a ‘confirmed positive’ test for Cyclospora. Today, we were informed that FDA made a mistake, and this was a false positive,” the company said in a statement on Sunday.
“Acting on initial information provided by health officials, in an abundance of caution, we completed a voluntary recall of iceberg lettuce from central Mexico. Recalled prouct was limited to iceberg lettuce grown and processed in central Mexico,” the company noted.
“All other Taylor Farms products, including all Taylor Farms brand products, are not involved in the recall,” it added.
Taylor Farms said its “thoughts remain with everyone who has fallen ill in this outbreak. We are committed to working with public health authorities as the ongoing outbreak investigation continues.”
Taylor Farms supplies major retailers and restaurants in the U.S., including Taco Bell, with a range of products from salad kits to vegetable blends, the Wall Street Journal reported.
In its statement, the company said that the FDA has not had a single positive test for Cyclospora on any of its products. Acting on the initial information that health officials provided the company, it went ahead with a voluntary recall of iceberg lettuce from central Mexico out of “an abundance of caution.”
Cyclospora is a microscopic, spherical parasite that commonly causes watery diarrhea “with frequent and sometimes explosive bowel movements,” according to the CDC. It is not life-threatening and usually treated with antibiotics.
The Centers for Disease Control is investigating an outbreak in five states: Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia.
– – –
Kevin Killough is a reporter for Just the News. Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network and contributed to this story.
