U.S. FDA says Taylor Farms cyclospora finding was a false positive

Disease specialist Isaac Bogoch discusses what the public needs to know about cyclospora and whether Canadians should be concerned.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Sunday that laboratory experts re-checked lettuce sample results from Taylor Farms in an investigation into an outbreak of the cyclospora parasite and concluded the finding should be considered a false positive.

As of Sunday, there were no confirmed positive sample results for cyclospora, the FDA added.

The FDA on Saturday had said that a sample of shredded iceberg lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms tested positive for the parasitic illness that has sickened thousands of people in the U.S.

A spokesperson for Taylor Fresh Foods told Reuters that the company was informed the FDA made a mistake.

“To be clear, at this moment, FDA has not identified a single positive product test result for cyclospora,” the company said.

Taylor Fresh Foods added that it had completed a voluntary recall of iceberg lettuce from central Mexico out of an abundance of caution based on the initial information given.

The FDA, in its latest update said it has “notified Taylor Farms and continues working with the firm to ensure the product implicated in this outbreak has been removed from the market.”

The company had earlier confirmed that the product was not part of its current recall, according to the FDA.

Cyclosporiasis, which has been linked to shredded iceberg lettuce served at Yum Brands Taco Bell restaurants in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia has so far resulted in around 100 hospitalizations and no deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Reporting by Chandni Shah and Devika Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Lincoln Feast, Reuters