US authority says Taylor Farms link to parasite outbreak was a false positive

WASHINGTON – The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said on July 19 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 July 19, there were no confirmed positive sample results for cyclospora, the FDA added. The FDA on July 18 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 US.

The FDA, in its latest update said it has “notified Taylor Farms and continues working with the firm to ensure product implicated in this outbreak has been removed from the market”. Taylor Farms had earlier confirmed that the product was not part of its current recall, according to the FDA.

Taylor Farms was not immediately available for comment. 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 hospitalisations and no deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The lettuce, which the FDA said late on July 16 came from Mexico, was produced as 2.3kg bags at Taylor Farms’ facility in Guanajuato, Mexico, a source told Reuters. REUTERS